Project

Water electrolysis for green hydrogen production or, more generally, Power-to-X (P2X) technologies are considered one of the most promising solutions for massive energy storage of the electricity intermittently generated by renewable power sources as well as a smart solution for decarbonizing energy-intensive sectors (e.g., iron and steel, refineries, ceramics industry or chemical plants). According to Hydrogen Europe, and the EC Hydrogen strategy projections, 40GW of electrolysis will be installed by 2030 in Europe. 

Among the different types of electrolysis systems, those based on high-temperature Solid Oxide Electrolysis Cells (SOECs) are, by far, the most efficient ones.

One of the most important limitations of SOEL is its stable operation at atmospheric pressure, which represents a major barrier for the use of this efficient technology in many relevant applications requiring pressurized hydrogen such as gas grid injection (Power-to-Gas, P2G) or hydrogen storage at high pressure like in the case of Hydrogen Refueling Stations (HRSs). Undoubtedly, reaching stable and durable SOEC operation at high pressure has the potential to provide a cost-effective solution for hydrogen production in industrial and transport sectors.

The HyP3D project will demonstrate the viability of a disruptive high-pressure SOEL technology based on unique advantages of sustainable 3D printing manufacturing. 

The main goal of the HyP3D project is to deliver a new generation of ultra-compact high-pressure standalone SOEC stacks able to convert electricity into compressed hydrogen for P2G and HRS applications. HyP3D technology is based on disruptive 3D-printed SOEC cells with large active area (70 cm2) and embedded functionalities able to produce hydrogen at high current densities above 0.90Acm2 (~1.3V) when operating at 850ºC and high pressure (5+ bar). Ultimately, manufacturing technology represents a breakthrough against traditional ceramics SOEC processing due to HyP3D will release ultra-high power density SOEC stacks of 2.14kW (30 cells in a total volume of 630 cm3) that multiply x3 the SoA specific power per unit volume (3.4kW/L) and x4 per unit mass (1.10kW/kg). HyP3D a significant reduction of the time-to-market (from years to months), the use of raw material (76% reduction) and the required initial investment (42% reduction) compared to conventional cell manufacturing plants, from the first MW) while introducing a great flexibility and scalability of the production lines.