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15 August 2023
By Polly Martin
Cheaper green hydrogen | BP leads
investment round for electrolyser start-up that promises world-beating
efficiency
Advanced Ionics’ Symbion technology only requires
35kWh/kgH2, while needing less heat than other high-temperature
electrolysers
BP has led a $12.5m Series A funding round for
Advanced Ionics, a Wisconsin-based start-up that has developed an
electrolyser capable of producing hydrogen at a 30% higher efficiency
than most technologies on the market.
The Symbion electrolyser is said to operate at
extremely high efficiency, requiring less than 35kWh of electricity
input per kilogramme of hydrogen when paired with an external heat
source.
This compares to the 37.7kWh/kgH2 efficiency achieved by
Bloom Energy’s solid-oxide electrolyser (SOE) in tests, one of the
highest efficiencies on the market today.
The Symbion electrolyser is around 30% more efficient
than alkaline and proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolysers,
generally considered the most mature commercially available
technologies. These both require more than 50kWh/kgH2, although they
generally work at lower temperatures.
Similar to SOEs, Advanced Ionics’ technology
requires heat as well as electricity. However, the Symbion
electrolyser can work at any temperature above 150°C, in contrast to
many SOEs which need to run at 700-850°C or above.
The start-up’s CEO Chad Mason told Hydrogen Insight's
sister publication Recharge last year that this opens up a much wider
range of industrial processes that the electrolyser can be co-located
with, particularly since the steam does not need to be “stepped up” in
temperature and increase running costs.
Similarly, since the equipment is made with stainless
steel and other low-cost materials, Mason suggested that the
electrolyser will cost less than its PEM rivals, which use platinum
group metals, and last longer than SOEs, which require brittle
ceramics as the solid electrolyte.
Advanced Ionics is currently testing its
technology with Spanish oil company Repsol. And BP has said it will
also explore deploying the Symbion electrolyser at pilot scale.
“Advanced Ionics’ technology has the potential to drive
down cost and disrupt the hydrogen market,” said Gareth Burns,
vice-president of BP’s venture capital arm.
“BP has a global portfolio of hydrogen projects, and as
the world transitions to a net-zero future, it’s important to us to be
investing in these technologies and advance the track to deploying
green hydrogen. We look forward to working with Advanced Ionics on the
next stage of its growth.”
Other new investors in the latest funding round include
Clean Energy Ventures, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, and GVP Climate,
an investment firm that focuses on early-stage clean
technology.(Copyright)
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