Scaling up of cells and stacks for large electrolysers
HORIZON JU Research and Innovation Actions
Basic Information
- Identifier
- HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2022-01-05
- Programme
- HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2022
- Programme Period
- 2021 - 2027
- Status
- Closed (31094503)
- Opening Date
- March 31, 2022
- Deadline
- September 20, 2022
- Deadline Model
- single-stage
- Budget
- €121,000,000
- Min Grant Amount
- €7,000,000
- Max Grant Amount
- €7,000,000
- Expected Number of Grants
- 1
- Keywords
- Mechanical engineeringCivil engineeringChemical engineeringMaterials engineeringlarge electrolyserfuel cells and stacks
Description
This topic concerns the research and development of much larger cells and stacks for water electrolysers than the current State of the Art (SoA). By upscaling electrolyser cells and stacks, economies of scale can be realised in manufacturing and more compact installations can be achieved when integrating electrolysers into industrial chemical processes, thermal processes and hydrogen hubs. Achieving all of the 2024 KPI targets stated in the SRIA of the Clean Hydrogen JU for low-temperature electrolysers will ease the adoption of renewable hydrogen by existing industrial processes and facilitate the introduction of renewable hydrogen production at scale. Furthermore, the research findings and outcomes at cell, stack and balance of plant level are expected to advance the subsequent deployment of large electrolysers to help satisfy the 2030 target of 40 GW renewable hydrogen electrolysers included in the European Hydrogen Strategy[1] and contribute to speeding up the achievement of key 2030 KPIs specified in the Clean Hydrogen JU SRIA.
Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:
- Innovations will be delivered with respect to the design and construction of electrolyser cells and stacks, which have considerably larger active areas and operate at higher current densities than the existing SoA;
- The performances of a number of prototype test stacks based on these cells will be assessed in order to establish the viability of building a single stack of nominally 10 MW capacity. This will fill a knowledge gap concerning the feasibility of large cells and stacks and prepare the way for subsequently demonstrating a 10MW electrolyser module (including appropriate balance of plant);
- A techno-economic evaluation should be undertaken of electrolyser systems, of approximately 50-1,000MW scale, comprising assemblies of this electrolyser module for use in identified industrial processes and other large-scale applications.
Project results are expected to help maintain European leadership in the field of electrolysis and contribute to all of the following objectives of the Clean Hydrogen JU SRIA:
- Develop larger area cells/stacks components with adequate manufacturing quality for high power systems;
- Improve cell design for high performance and increase cell/stack robustness;
- demonstrate that electrolysis technology, when deployed at scale, has the potential to meet cost and performance KPIs;
- reducing electrolyser CAPEX and OPEX;
- Increasing current density;
- Increasing the scale of deployment.
In particular, the developed electrolyser stacks should conform with the 2024 KPI targets of the Clean Hydrogen JU SRIA, corresponding to the type of low-temperature electrolyser technology that is being developed, as per the list below.
- AEL, Electricity consumption @ nominal capacity (kWh/kg) 49, CAPEX €/(kg/d) 1,000, OPEX €/(kg/d)/y 43, Current density (A/cm2) 0.7, Use of critical raw materials as catalysts (mg/W) 0.3;
- PEMEL, Electricity consumption @ nominal capacity (kWh/kg) 52, CAPEX €/(kg/d) 1,550, OPEX €/(kg/d)/y 30, Current density (A/cm2) 2.4, Use of critical raw materials as catalysts (mg/W) 1.25.
The application of electrolysers to industrial clusters and hydrogen hubs in order to achieve substantial CO2 savings is inhibited by the present capacities of electrolyser stacks. Hydrogen production could be achieved more cost effectively if larger electrolyser cells and stacks were available. When compared with the current SoA, the development of an electrolyser module of about 10MW, if feasible, would be a considerable step-forward (where a module comprises the least number of stacks and preferably only one stack). However, there are several R&I challenges which first need to be overcome to realise this. Proposals are expected to address the following:
- Scale-up of cell active areas by a factor of at least two, operating at higher current densities and increasing the number of cells per stack, while ensuring durability and performance (mechanically, electrically and in terms of heat and mass transfer) for the envisaged balanced pressure or differential pressure stack;
- Ensure the catalyst and electrode production techniques achieve uniform performance for the required cell areas;
- Develop appropriate production methods and supply chains for larger cell plates and electrodes;
- Establish any technical limits that may restrict the achievable cell size, current density or stack size for a large electrolyser;
- Establish the extent of cost reductions, relative to a SoA stack, when innovating larger cells and stack;
- Ensure a good match between the design of the stack assembly and the power supply unit to minimise energy losses and the overall cost of the electrolyser module;
- Appropriately scale-up of the balance-of-plant while ensuring a compact design for the electrolyser module;
- Minimise weight and footprint to ensure ease of handling and shipping;
- Maximise the overall cost reduction potential by minimising parts count and value engineering;
- Build and test several short stacks, based on large cells, in order to establish the feasibility of subsequently building an electrolyser module of 10MW capacity comprising preferably a single stack;
- Identifying any optimal sizes for larger cells and stacks from scientific, engineering, logistics and economic perspectives.
Activities developing test protocols and procedures for the performance and durability assessment of electrolysers and fuel cell components proposals should foresee a collaboration mechanism with JRC (see section 2.2.4.3 "Collaboration with JRC"), in order to support EU-wide harmonisation. Test activities should adopt the already published EU harmonised testing protocols[2] to benchmark performance and quantify progress at programme level.
Activities are expected to start at TRL 3 and achieve TRL 5 by the end of the project.
The conditions related to this topic are provided in the chapter 2.2.3.2 of the Clean Hydrogen JU 2022 Annual Work Plan and in the General Annexes to the Horizon Europe Work Programme 2021–2022 which apply mutatis mutandis.
[1]https://ec.europa.eu/energy/sites/ener/files/hydrogen_strategy.pdf
[2]https://www.clean-hydrogen.europa.eu/knowledge-management/collaboration-jrc-0_en
Eligibility & Conditions
General conditions
1. Admissibility conditions: described in Annex A and Annex E of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes
Proposal page limits and layout: described in Part B of the Application Form available in the Submission System
Additional condition: For all Innovation Actions the page limit of the applications are 70 pages.
2. Eligible countries: described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes
A number of non-EU/non-Associated Countries that are not automatically eligible for funding have made specific provisions for making funding available for their participants in Horizon Europe projects. See the information in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide.
3. Other eligibility conditions: described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes
Additional eligibility condition: Maximum contribution per topic
For some topics, in line with the Clean Hydrogen JU SRIA, an additional eligibility criterion has been introduced to limit the Clean Hydrogen JU requested contribution mostly for actions performed at high TRL level, including demonstration in real operation environment and with important involvement from industrial stakeholders and/or end users such as public authorities. Such actions are expected to leverage co-funding as commitment from stakeholders. It is of added value that such leverage is shown through the private investment in these specific topics. Therefore, proposals requesting contributions above the amounts specified per each topic below will not be evaluated:
- HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2022 -01-07 - The maximum Clean Hydrogen JU contribution that may be requested is EUR 9.00 million
- HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2022 -03-03 - The maximum Clean Hydrogen JU contribution that may be requested is EUR 30.00 million
- HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2022 -03-05 - The maximum Clean Hydrogen JU contribution that may be requested is EUR 15.00 million
- HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2022 -04-01 - The maximum Clean Hydrogen JU contribution that may be requested is EUR 7.00 million
- HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2022 -06-01 - The maximum Clean Hydrogen JU contribution that may be requested is EUR 25.00 million
- HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2022 -06-02 - The maximum Clean Hydrogen JU contribution that may be requested is EUR 8.00 million
Additional eligibility condition: Membership to Hydrogen Europe/Hydrogen Europe Research
For some topics, in line with the Clean Hydrogen JU SRIA, an additional eligibility criterion has been introduced to ensure that one partner in the consortium is a member of either Hydrogen Europe or Hydrogen Europe Research. This concerns topics targeting actions for large-scale demonstrations, flagship projects and strategic research actions, where the industrial and research partners of the Clean Hydrogen JU are considered to play a key role in accelerating the commercialisation of hydrogen technologies by being closely linked to the Clean Hydrogen JU constituency, which could further ensure full alignment with the Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda of the Industry and the SRIA188 of the JU. This approach shall also ensure the continuity of the work performed within projects funded through the H2020 and FP7, by building up on their experience and consolidating the EU value-chain. This applies to the following topics:
- HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2022 -01-07
- HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2022 -01-08
- HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2022 -01-10
- HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2022 -02-08
- HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2022 -03-03
- HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2022 -03-05
- HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2022 -04-01
- HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2022 -06-01
- HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2022 -06-02
- HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2022 -07-01
Additional eligibility condition: Participation of African countries
For one topic the following additional eligibility criteria have been introduced to allow African countries to i) participate in proposal, ii) be eligible for funding and iii) ensure a sufficient geographical coverage of the African continent. This concerns the following topic:
- HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2022 -05-5
Manufacturing Readiness Assessment
For some topics a definition of Manufacturing Readiness Level has been introduced in the Annexes of the Annual Work Programme. This is necessary to evaluate the status of the overall manufacturing activities included in the following topics:
- HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2022 -01-04
- HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2022 -04-01
4. Financial and operational capacity and exclusion: described in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes
5. Evaluation and award:
- Award criteria, scoring and thresholds are described in Annex D of the Work Programme General Annexes
- Submission and evaluation processes are described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes and the Online Manual
Exemption to evaluation procedure: complementarity of projects
For some topics in order to ensure a balanced portfolio covering complementary approaches, grants will be awarded to applications not only in order of ranking but at least also to one additional project that is / are complementary, provided that the applications attain all thresholds
- HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2022 -01-03
- HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2022 -01-04
- HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2022 -01-09
- HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2022 -02-10
- HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2022 -03-01
- HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2022 -03-02
- HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2022 -03-04
- HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2022 -04-04
Seal of Excellence
For two topics the ‘Seal of Excellence’ will be awarded to applications exceeding all of the evaluation thresholds set out in this Annual Work Programme but cannot be funded due to lack of budget available to the call. This will further improve the chances of good proposals, otherwise not selected, to find alternative funding in other Union programmes, including those managed by national or regional Managing Authorities. With prior authorisation from the applicant, the Clean Hydrogen JU may share information concerning the proposal and the evaluation with interested financing authorities, subject to the conclusion of confidentiality agreements. In this Annual Work Programme ‘Seal of Excellence’ will be piloted for topics:
- HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2022 -06-01
- HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2022 -06-02
- Indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement: described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes
6. Legal and financial set-up of the grants: described in Annex G of the Work Programme General Annexes
In addition to the standard provisions, the following specific provisions in the model grant agreement will apply:
Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), background and results, access rights and rights of use (article 16 and Annex 5 of the Model Grant Agreement (MGA)).
- An additional information obligation has been introduced for topics including standardisation activities: ‘Beneficiaries must, up to 4 years after the end of the action, inform the granting authority if the results could reasonably be expected to contribute to European or international standards’. These concerns the topics below:
Additional information obligation for topics including standardisation activities
- HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2022 -02-09
- HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2022 -03-04
- HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2022 -05-02
- HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2022 -05-03
- HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2022 -05-04
- For all topics in this Work Programme Clean Hydrogen JU shall have the right to object to transfers of ownership of results, or to grants of an exclusive licence regarding results, if: (a) the beneficiaries which generated the results have received Union funding; (b) the transfer or licensing is to a legal entity established in a non-associated third country; and (c) the transfer or licensing is not in line with Union interests. The grant agreement shall contain a provision in this respect.
Full capitalised costs for purchases of equipment, infrastructure or other assets purchased specifically for the action
For some topics, in line with the Clean Hydrogen JU SRIA, mostly large-scale demonstrators or flagship projects specific equipment, infrastructure or other assets purchased specifically for the action (or developed as part of the action tasks) can exceptionally be declared as full capitalised costs. This concerns the topics below:
- HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2022 -01-07: electrolyser and other hydrogen related equipment essential for implementation of the project, (e.g. compression of hydrogen, storage and any essential end-use technology)
- HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2022 -01-08: electrolyser, its BoP and any other hydrogen related equipment essential for the implementation of the project (e.g. hydrogen storage)
- HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2022 -01-10: electrolyser, its BOP and any other hydrogen related equipment essential for implementation of the project (e.g. offshore infrastructure, renewable electricity supply infrastructure, storages, pipelines and other auxiliaries required to convey and utilise the hydrogen)
- HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2022 -02-08: compression prototype/s and related components
- HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2022 -03-03: trucks, fuel cell system, on-board hydrogen storage and other components needed in a hydrogen truck
- HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2022 -03-05: vessels, fuel cell system, on-board hydrogen storage and other components needed in a hydrogen fuel cell hydrogen vessel
- HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2022 -04-01: manufacturing equipment and tooling
- HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2022 -06-01: hydrogen production plant, distribution and storage infrastructure and hydrogen end-uses
- HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2022 -06-02: hydrogen production plant, distribution and storage infrastructure and hydrogen end-uses
Specific conditions
7. Specific conditions: described in the chapter 2.2.3.2 of the Clean Hydrogen JU 2022 Annual Work Plan
Documents
CALL UPDATE: FLASH CALL INFO
Call documents:
Application form — As well available in the Submission System from March 31st 2022
- Application form - Part B (HE CleanH2 RIA, IA)
- Application form - Part B (HE CleanH2 CSA)
Evaluation forms
- Evaluation form (HE RIA, IA)
Model Grant Agreement (MGA)
Clean Hydrogen JU - Annual Work Programme 2022 (AWP 2022)
- AWP 2022
Clean Hydrogen JU - Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA)
Additional documents:
HE Main Work Programme 2021–2022 – 1. General Introduction
HE Main Work Programme 2021–2022 – 13. General Annexes
HE Framework Programme and Rules for Participation Regulation 2021/695
HE Specific Programme Decision 2021/764
Rules for Legal Entity Validation, LEAR Appointment and Financial Capacity Assessment
EU Grants AGA — Annotated Model Grant Agreement
Funding & Tenders Portal Online Manual
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