Ammonia powered fuel cell system focusing on superior efficiency, durable operation and design optimisation
HORIZON JU Research and Innovation Actions
Basic Information
- Identifier
- HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2022-04-02
- Programme
- HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2022
- Programme Period
- 2021 - 2027
- Status
- Closed (31094503)
- Opening Date
- March 31, 2022
- Deadline
- May 31, 2022
- Deadline Model
- single-stage
- Budget
- €179,500,000
- Keywords
- Environmental engineeringMechanical engineeringChemical engineeringCivil engineeringfuel cell systemAmmoniastationary
Description
Fuel cells are known as the most efficient energy conversion outperforming conventional power sources. Hydrogen and natural gas-powered fuel cell systems have reached high-level technology readiness levels (TRL) and demonstrated reliable durability in operation. However, today’s roadblock preventing fuel cells from winning a greater share of the power market is the lack of availability of affordable, carbon free, and easily transportable fuel. Against this background ammonia shows huge potential as hydrogen carrier. Liquid ammonia - with twice as much hydrogen as liquid hydrogen by volume and carbon-free formulation – unleashes a new dimension in fuel cells applications. Ammonia as a fuel in fuel cells can provide a great impact on de-fossilisation in all power consuming sectors of the global economy. A use of ammonia for industrial business-to-business (B2B) prime power and long-term backup power production provides opportunity for further decrease of carbon dioxide emissions in regions having easy access to this fuel.
Project results are expected to contribute the following expected outcome:
- support European industry across the whole value chain in the development of the next generation power appliances utilising ammonia as a fuel;
- demonstration of high efficiency, fuel cell-based systems operated on ammonia as a means to provide new options for de-fossilisation of different energy sectors and facilitate establishing value chains between fuel cell industry and existing players in industrial markets;
- contribute to the decarbonisation of autonomous power systems operated on a liquid carbon-free fuel e.g. digital data transmission sector, such as telecom (5-15 kWe), communication support for critical infrastructures (up to 5 kWe), energy supply (up to 10 kWe) for early warning systems (i.e. hazardous climate-related event transmitters. These market opportunities represent a suitable stepping stone to deploy fuel cell systems with high efficient energy conversion rate of ammonia fuel to power within a reasonable timeframe;
- Set the basis for the development of large power generators in the 100 kW and MW scale for e.g. harbours where ammonia is available as commodity already today. Green ammonia figures as a candidate to become the future standard fuels in maritime applications;
- Gain and transfer knowledge and experiences to the maritime providing sector.
Project results are expected to directly contribute to all of the following objectives of the Clean Hydrogen JU SRIA Pillar 3, Hydrogen End Uses: Clean Heat and Power:
- Prepare and demonstrate the next generation of fuel cells for stationary applications able to run under (renewable) hydrogen-rich fuels whilst keeping high performance;
- Target: Electrical efficiency of the system ≥50%; total system power degradation ≤3% at nominal power measured over at least 1,000 hours of continuous operation; availability of the system ≥90% during whole testing period gathering ≥3,000 operating hours; fuel cell system able to operate at partial loads;
- Fuel cells operating on alternative (renewable) fuels; Target: 5-15 kW fuel cell system operating with green ammonia including operation at partial load;
- New technologies and components to reduce costs and improve flexibility in operation. Target: fuel cell system costs ≤5,000 €/kWe for 100 MW annual production.
The scope of this topic is to design, manufacture and validate in relevant environmental an ammonia fuelled fuel cell system with a total electrical power output of 5-15 kWel. The system should operate for at least 3,000 hours and be also validated for operation at partial loads.
The system requires innovative scientific and engineering solutions. The focus of research may include innovative fuel cell design and should include BoP components and integrated ammonia cracker, safe and durable operation. For system development proposals may use available fuel cell technologies. Fuel cell manufacturers should be part of consortia.
Balance of plant (BoP) components needed for ammonia-driven fuel cells determine overall efficiency and durability of the system and should be designed taking into consideration the following requirements:
- Ammonia cracker integration into the system without external power should allow a fully autonomous operation;
- System design and integration of BoP should enable to maximise heat recovery;
- System should demonstrate dynamic load and relevant operating conditions in respect to the intended application;
- Power consumption for internal needs should be minimised.
Proposals should address the following:
- System design and development utilising existing fuel cell manufacturing technologies;
- Development of ammonia-tolerant BoP components;
- Dynamic modelling of system performance;
- Identification of degradation mechanisms in fuel cells and BoP components (including ammonia purity and degree of ammonia cracking), and effect of operation parameters;
- Risk assessment of safety aspects in relation to the future certification of the system;
- Techno-economical assessment for a selected application;
- System operation / state of health monitoring;
- System operation with various grades of ammonia, including concentrations of ammonia in the feeding gas and impurities/contaminants;
- System
Consortia are expected to gather comprehensive expertise from the European research and industrial community. Participation of end user(s) for the selected system application is also expected.
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[1] 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://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 Manua
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 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:
CALL UPDATE: FLASH CALL INFO
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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