Company Categorisation

Liquid Hydrogen Storage builds upon the industry experience of other cryogens, such as liquid nitrogen, liquid helium, and liquid natural gas. The company that participated in HI-ACT’s industry interview series is one of the major market players in the UK in terms of cryogenic liquid storage and handling. The company reported that their liquid hydrogen storage tanks have a TRL and MRL of 8, while the tanks are manufactured solely in the UK. Their liquid hydrogen storage tanks have applications within the Hydrogen Transport and Storage sector of the hydrogen value chain. Whilst the manufacturing and fabrication of the storage tanks takes place in the UK, the company outsources cryogenic temperature rated valves and contents gauges from multiple countries, namely Europe and USA, effectively diversifying it’s supply chain. Adding to the outsourcing of its components, the company provided an example that, for larger tanks (up to 20,000 litres), the number of valve utilisation soars dramatically and may constitute up to 30 % of the overall cost of the vessel. Delving further into the challenges of liquid hydrogen storage, outside of critical component supply chain, the company identified that the biggest challenge was client inability and inexperience to define product specifications at the design stage

Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFCs) come under the guise of End-Use Applications in the hydrogen value chain, and are a relatively mature hydrogen technology, with proven applications within the automotive and power generation industry. A whole PEMFC system manufacturing and assembly SME engaged with HI-ACT for the industry interview series and are one of the UK’s leading fuel cell companies. Being a whole systems manufacturer, they reported that approximately 90 % of their components are outsourced, while the system assembly is carried out solely within the UK. The outsourced components are generally procured internationally (some nationally), and the UK operations base handles procurement, design, assembly, and quality assurance testing. Some manufacturing, in low volumes, occurs in the UK, mainly pertaining to electronics. The company reported that they are active in multiple end-use PEMFC applications, with a wide variety of product sizes and maturity levels. For automotive passenger car applications, the company supplies 100 kW PEMFC systems, with a TRL of 6 and an MRL of 5. For automotive heavy-duty applications (trucks and buses), the company supplied modules in 100 kW multiples for large power output systems, with a TRL of 7 and an MRL of 5. For stationary power generation applications (local and micro grids), systems with a power output of 4-20 kW are supplied, at a TRL and MRL of 9. For portable power applications (lighting towers and welfare cabins), small PEMFC modules are supplied with a power rating of 1-4 kW, at a TRL and MRL of 9. For material handling applications (forklifts and MEWPs), 1 kW PEMFC systems with a TRL and MRL of 9 are supplied. For aerospace applications, the company provides UAV PEMFC systems at a TRL and MRL of 9, with a power output of 0.8-2.4 kW (scaled up to 24 kW). For larger applications, the company is rapidly developing 300 kW modules (eventually in the MW scale), at a TRL and MRL of 4. While the company showcases an impressive range of application backgrounds, they still reported critical supply chain issues surrounding high-value components, such as MEAs, GDLs, BPPs, and compressors. They report that the global supply chain of these components is reliant on a handful of manufacturers, limiting diversification of supply chain. Apart from the supply chain, the company reported that their technology meets most market requirements, except cost, which is heavily dependant on market volume and availability of low-cost, pure, and accessible green hydrogen. The UK hydrogen market is dominated by one supplier, which is severely limiting hydrogen technology implementation at scale. Green hydrogen constitutes only 4 % of the total UK hydrogen supply, while the remaining 96 % is obtained from methane reforming. Hence, cost parity with fossil fuels, supply chain diversification, and free market availability of low-carbon hydrogen is desperately required for adoption of PEMFCs, at scale, in the UK.

Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFCs) are an End-Use technology in the hydrogen value chain, while the Solid Oxide Electrolyser Cells (SOECs) are a Hydrogen Production technology. One of the largest SOFC and SOEC developers in the UK engaged with HI-ACT for the industry interview series. While not a technology manufacturer, the company licenses their core SOFC and SOEC technology to high-volume manufacturers globally. The core technology presents at a TRL of 9, while the licensees enable an MRL of 9. The company reported that, currently, there is no traction from the government in the UK for solid oxide technology. Hence, the technology is licensed outside the UK. One of the main manufacturing licensees is Doosan in South Korea, who have a 50 MW manufacturing facility solely for solid oxide technology, with ambitions to scaleup to 150 MW. In Europe, the technology is licensed to Bosch, who are currently at the precommercial stage in the development of a 200 MW manufacturing facility in Germany. The company reported that the current application of their SOFC technology is data centres, marine, and other power generation application, while the SOEC technology has applications in the production of green hydrogen for ammonia synthesis, e-fuels, steel, and other hard to abate heavy industry.