(Milwaukee / USA) – BP Ventures, the investment division of the energy group BP, together with Clean Energy Ventures, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and GVP Climate supported a financing round of Advanced Ionics with 12,5 million dollars (11,5 million euros). The company, based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is working on the development of an electrolyzer technology called “Symbion” for heavy industry.
More than 70 percent of the cost of producing green hydrogen came from electricity consumption, explains Advanced Ionics. The company's electrolyzer helps reduce electricity requirements. The device will be integrated into standard industrial processes to utilize the process heat.
Hydrogen for less than a dollar
“The advances we have made reduce typical electricity costs by 20 to 50 percent to use just 30 to 40 kilowatt hours per kilogram of hydrogen,” Advanced Ionics CEO Chad Mason said in March. For conventional electrolysers, 50 kilowatt hours and more have been the norm. The device costs are also lower. The system is made of steel and “other simple materials instead of expensive metals or materials that are otherwise used,” the company said. The aim is to produce green hydrogen for less than a dollar per kilogram.
Advanced Ionics wants to use the funds it has raised to expand the team and deliver its next-generation electrolyzer systems to its first customers. The effectiveness of the “Symbion” technology has already been proven by a pilot study financed by the Repsol Foundation, the investment arm of the Spanish oil company Repsol.
BP will also investigate options for pilot applications, the company said. “Advanced Ionics has the potential to reduce costs and revolutionize the hydrogen market,” says Gareth Burns, vice president of BP Ventures.
Hysata is already producing
Other manufacturers are also currently researching and working on reducing costs. A few days ago the Australian electrolyser manufacturer Hysata Pty Ltd opened a production facility in Port Kembla. According to the company, the devices have an “extraordinary efficiency” of 95 percent. The electricity requirement is 41,5 kilowatt hours per kilogram of hydrogen - currently the lowest electricity production costs for such products.
Advanced Ionics receives $12,5 million to further develop its Symbion electrolyzer technology. This should reduce production costs to one dollar per kilogram of hydrogen. © BP
