Hydrogen Optimized, a subsidiary of KEY DH Technologies Inc., has completed a demonstration of the world’s highest-current water electrolyzer since the 1980s.

The operation of a 50,000 ampere RuggedCell unipolar electrolyzer represents a breakthrough in large-scale green hydrogen production technology and a direct pathway toward the commercialization of single electrolysis modules rated up to 100 MW. The demonstration took place at Hydrogen Optimized’s High-Current Demonstration Centre in Owen Sound, Ontario.

"Today we achieved an important milestone toward our goal of deploying high-current unipolar water electrolysis technology for the world’s largest Green Hydrogen production systems," said Andrew T.B. Stuart, President and CEO, Hydrogen Optimized. "Such very large systems will be required by major industrial, chemical, utility and energy end users to significantly reduce their carbon emissions."

"We will now focus on optimizing the RuggedCell design as we advance toward the development of a market-ready product. We will also move toward the scale-up of our technology – a doubling of the RuggedCell current rating to 100,000 amperes. This will enable single electrolyzer modules up to 200 MW."

In parallel with its ongoing technology development and demonstration activities, Hydrogen Optimized is advancing its manufacturing capabilities to enable production at its Owen Sound plant of hundreds of megawatts of electrolyzers annually and ultimately up to 2 GW of annual output. New manufacturing facilities will be established in other markets in line with growth projections in the demand for large-scale Green Hydrogen production.

Aurora Energy Research projects that the global installed base of water electrolyzers will grow one-thousand-fold from 0.2 MW 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 approach could be a category-leading solution for plants at the scale forecasted by Aurora.

"On my recent visit to Hydrogen Optimized’s Owen Sound facility, I was impressed by the company’s progress on its Green Hydrogen production system," said Ontario Energy Minister, the Hon. Todd Smith, who was joined at the facility by Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound MPP Bill Walker. "Ontario businesses such as Hydrogen Optimized can help place our province at the forefront of clean energy technology and manufacturing."  

Since 2017, when Hydrogen Optimized launched its RuggedCell high-current electrolyzer development program, the company has progressively scaled the maximum ampere rating of its technology. This has involved a technology development investment of $10 MM to date, with another $12 MM investment anticipated over the next three years. The future expenditures will be funded by a $4.8 MM grant from Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) as announced on June 8, 2021, additional support from Natural Gas Innovation Fund (NGIF) Industry Grants, other funding sources under development, and investors.