Hydrogen Optimized demonstrated its patent pending RuggedCell high-current unipolar electrolysis system can ramp from 0 to 50,000 amperes in less than 10 seconds. This breakthrough shows that RuggedCell technology can be used to stabilize electrical grids and optimize energy recovery from intermittent renewable power sources such as solar and wind.

The RuggedCell‘s rapid power load response rate contrasts sharply with low-current, low-power bipolar alkaline technology in the marketplace today. These systems are inherently limited in their range of power variability and take several minutes or more to ramp up and down. Furthermore, like PEM technology, individual bipolar alkaline modules are limited to smaller scale output.

The RuggedCell electrolyzer, as demonstrated, is believed to be the largest water electrolysis cell in the world today. The technology is designed to meet the needs of the largest green hydrogen applications. Its capacity to rapidly shift hydrogen production rates in response to variations in the available power is vital to wind and solar power generation equipment providers, renewable power system designers and operators, renewable hydrogen project developers, and end users of green hydrogen.

Large-scale systems will be required by major industrial, chemical, utility and energy end users to significantly reduce their carbon emissions. Aurora Energy Research projects that the global installed base of water electrolyzers will grow 1000 fold from 0.2 GW today to more than 200 GW by 2040*. The firm also projects that “typical” electrolyzer project sizes will grow to 100-500 MWs by 2025 and to 1 GW by 2030. Looking ahead, Hydrogen Optimized believes that its high-current unipolar RuggedCell technology could be a category-leading solution for green hydrogen production plants at the scale forecasted by Aurora.

"We have exceeded our targets for rapidly fluctuating the power flowing through a RuggedCell, including going from 0% to 100% in less than 10 seconds, and achieving stable operation at full power and subsequently at lower power levels,” Hydrogen Optimized President and CEO Andrew T.B. Stuart said. "To this point, the consensus among green hydrogen experts worldwide has been that only PEM water electrolyzers could rapidly absorb and shed electricity and thereby be used to stabilize variable electric power sources. We have now proven that RuggedCell alkaline technology, which is uniquely scalable to individual system deployments in the hundreds of megawatts, equals or betters PEM technology’s capability to handle variable power levels."

"Deploying our technology at scale will help electrical grid operators manage the impact of replacing relatively stable power production from fossil fuels with unstable energy sources such as solar panels and wind turbines," said Stuart. "This means our water electrolysis system has the capability to become a powerful and cost-effective tool to expand the deployment of renewable electricity and accelerate the energy transition toward net-zero carbon emissions."