Accelerating the commercialisation of the direct solar-to-hydrogen technology

April 23rd, 2024

R&D Focus Areas:
Photochemical and photocatalytic processes, Advanced manufacturing

Lead Organisation:
Australian National University

Partners:
Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Technology and Advanced Materials
CQSola Pty Ltd
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Fabrum Solutions Limited

Status:
Active

Start date:
March 2024

Completion date:
February 2029

Key contacts:
Siva Karuturi, Chief Investigator- siva.karuturi@anu.edu.au

Funding:
AUD$2.25 million – Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA)

Project total cost:
AUD$7.52 million

Project summary description (as published by ARENA):
The Australian National University aims to advance its direct solar-to-hydrogen (DSTH) technology from a successful laboratory-scale model to a viable commercial product. The project will focus on the optimisation and upscaling of DSTH modules, and conceptual and engineering design for a pilot hydrogen production plant, as well as a module manufacturing line.

The project will be delivered in two stages:

  • The core research stage, including:
    • electrode and stack development including catalyst/stack optimisation and upscaling.
    • module development including assembly and testing of prototype modules, thermal integration, and overall engineering design, and
    • system development including balance of system evaluation, feasibility study, conceptual design, and engineering design for a pilot plant.
  • The commercialisation stage, including:
    • commercial viability assessment including a commercialisation roadmap, market assessment, risk analysis and technoeconomic analysis, and
    • manufacturing line development including supply chain evaluation, feasibility study, and conceptual design of a DTSH module manufacturing plant.

The project seeks to achieve the following Outcomes:

  1. accelerated commercialisation of renewable hydrogen through innovative R&D in hydrogen production technologies
  2. increased skills, capacity and knowledge relevant to the hydrogen production technologies in the Australian hydrogen sector, and the facilitation of collaboration between research groups and industry
  3. improvement in the technology readiness and commercial readiness of hydrogen production technologies
  4. development of electrolysis systems which directly couple solar energy generation, potentially reducing energy conversion losses;
  5. a simplified direct solar-to-hydrogen technology (DSTH) module design using earth-abundant materials and integration with balance of system, potentially leading to a reduction in the levelised cost of hydrogen
  6. design of a large-scale DSTH process and feasibility studies into pilot scale operation of similar plants, and
  7. technoeconomic analysis and a pathway to manufacturing and commercialising DSTH modules to reduce the cost of hydrogen production.

Related publications and key links:
https://arena.gov.au/projects/accelerating-the-commercialisation-of-the-direct-solar-to-hydrogen-technology/

Higher degree studies supported:
None at this stage.

 

April 2024