Efficient system for dehydrogenation of liquid organic hydrogen carriers for application to long distance transportations
HORIZON JU Research and Innovation Actions
Basic Information
- Identifier
- HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2022-02-05
- 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 engineeringChemical engineeringdehydrogenationliquid organic hydrogenhydrogen carriers
Description
Liquid hydrogen carriers will play a significant role in diversifying Europe’s energy supply corridor, transporting hydrogen at large scale (>1,000 t H2/day) especially across longer distances. In this frame, liquid organic hydrogen carriers (LOHC) have attracted attention of Europe’s research and industry community. LOHC provide the possibility of transporting significant amount of hydrogen during hydrogenation/dehydrogenation cycles. Availability and degradation issues should be further studied to assess the large-scale potential of these liquid carriers. In addition, energy efficiency and environmental impacts have to be carefully addressed.
The hydrogenation of LOHCs can be performed close to centralised hydrogen production sites, but their dehydrogenation needs to be easily obtained locally for different applications. Many technical, environmental and economic challenges related to dehydrogenation step need to be overcome.
Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:
- Contribute to Europe technology leadership, developing innovative reactors and catalyst for the dehydrogenation of LOHC, including integrated solutions for heat management and hydrogen purification;
- Reducing the use of critical raw materials in LOHC dehydrogenation reaction;
- Develop affordable business models related to the use of hydrogen carried on by LOHC for various applications, such as centralised and distributed power generation, shipping, heavy mobility, etc;
- Contributing to the understanding of Europe need in terms of infrastructure and regulation for the management of liquid hydrogen carriers;
- Foster the demonstration of the solutions developed in the project throughout Europe;
- Contribute to the social acceptance of hydrogen technologies, demonstrating safe solutions for hydrogen transportation by LOHC.
Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following objectives of the Clean Hydrogen JU SRIA: (especially for Pillar 2: Hydrogen storage and distribution – Sub Pillar: liquid H2 carriers):
- To continue the research on carrier cycling performance, chemistries, catalysis and reactors which show potential for improved roundtrip efficiency and life cycle assessment.
- Develop a range of hydrogen carriers that will be used commercially to transport and store hydrogen while improving their roundtrip efficiency and lowering their cost.
- Contribute to the SRIA KPIs on hydrogen carrier delivery cost, for 3000km ship transfer (Targets: 2024 = 2.5 €/kg, 2030 = <2€/kg);
- Contribute to the SRIA KPIs on hydrogen carrier specific energy consumption (Targets: 2024 = 17 kWh input/kgH2 recovered, 2030 = 12 kWh input/kgH2 recovered).
State of the art systems for H2 recovery from LOHC require reaction units and catalysts operating at temperatures between 200 and 400 °C depending on the type of molecule. The application of heat sources to deliver the required thermal energy is a restricting challenge for selected organic liquids as a reliable hydrogen carrier. Moreover, components thermal losses, power consumed by pumps, and loss of hydrogen due to imperfect recovery in conventional separation and purification section represent other important issues to address for the next generation LOHC dehydrogenation plants.
The project should develop and demonstrate reactors and catalyst dedicated to the dehydrogenation of LOHC. In particular, the project should contain a set of principles applied in catalyst and reactor design, which can bring significant benefits in terms of process intensification and chain efficiency, lower capital and operating expenses, higher quality of products, less wastes and improved process safety. Therefore, it is of interest to develop and demonstrate, at prototype scale, low-cost catalysts and integrated reactors that can deliver hydrogen at a high rate per volume from LOHC dehydrogenation at relatively low temperatures and high conversion, so that zero-carbon pure hydrogen can be transported at long distances.
The proposal should contain:
- Development of catalyst (CRMs free catalyst or reducing of CRM use should be considered) for the LOHC dehydrogenation at lower temperature compared to the state of the art:
- ensuring the highest possible dehydrogenation reaction conversion (>95%);
- improving the overall thermal efficiency of the LOHC dehydrogenation step;
- providing high reliability, ease of operation, and cost-effectiveness to hydrogen production;
- an integrated system with high reliability, ease of operation, low materials degradation and cost-effectiveness to hydrogen production from LOHC.
- A fully CO2-free dehydrogenation process;
- A demonstration system, running for at least 500 hours and producing at least 10 kg H2/day at atmospheric pressure;
- Demonstration of the absence of contaminants, by-products and degradation products from the dehydrogenation of LOHC in real conditions (hydrogen quality according to ISO 14687:2019);
- Demonstration of scalability of the developed system to large-scale production (equivalent to the 100 t H2/day) for long distance transportation;
- A Life Cycle Assessment of the developed system in the frame of the whole supply chain: LOHC inventory and make-up, (de)hydrogenation steps, temporary storage, shipping, CRM net consumption, etc;
- Techno-economic analysis for the scalability of the developed system to large-scale production for long distance transportation, i.e. 1000 t H2/day, including centralised hydrogenation plant, storage, shipping and distributed dehydrogenation plants.
In order for the proposal to reach the expected outcome, the deliverables are expected to be disseminated at the end of the action to the hydrogen mobility and hydrogen refuelling infrastructure sectors and relevant working groups of the standardisation technical committee’s such as ISO TC 197, CEN TC 268, including the hydrogen purity standard ISO14687 and EN17124, related to hydrogen fuel sampling.
Proposals are expected to address sustainability and circularity aspects.
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.
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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