Per WSJ, many companies have promised to produce large amounts of green hydrogen, but none have succeeded. Electric Hydrogen (EH) is the industry’s first unicorn, recently raising $380 Million from BP, United Airlines, Microsoft and others. Its valuation is now over $1 Billion.
EH has developed a new way to split the water molecule using electrolyzers. They are generally expensive and consume lots of renewable electricity to make a small amount of hydrogen, but EH says its electrolyzer can produce much more hydrogen. Nearly all hydrogen produced today is made by heating natural gas, a cheap process that generates greenhouse gases. EH says its performance gains along with generous government subsidies will allow it to make green hydrogen that is competitive in today’s market.
Green hydrogen is considered the holy grail of clean energy technologies. It is one of few options that could eliminate emissions from trucks, planes, steel/chemical plants and more. For example, it could produce clean jet fuel. Potential demand is so great that the market could be as much as $1 Trillion in coming decades.
EH uses new materials and designs to boost electrolyzer performance and drive down costs. Electrolyzers have traditionally been small scale devices. EH started from scratch and used new plate engineering focused on performance of bigger electrolyzers that can use less precious metal and can run on intermittent renewable power to unlock better results.
EH is aiming to further drive down costs. By 2030, customers will be able to produce hydrogen in renewables rich states such as TX for about $1.50 per kilogram, in line with hydrogen made from natural gas. The Inflation Reduction Act provides a tax credit for green hydrogen of up to $3 per kilogram. This would enable customers that make green hydrogen to give it away and still make money.
EH is opening its first large electrolyzer factory next year in Massachusetts. At the 200,000 square foot factory’s full capacity, they aim to produce as many electrolyzers each year as the total amount installed globally in 2022.
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