Técnicas Reunidas participates in a research project for the development of Solid Oxide Electrolysis (SOE) technology for green hydrogen production:
Context
Climate change is having an increasingly significant impact on our planet, and mitigating it is an ever more urgent challenge. To achieve this, it is necessary to disconnect from fossil-based raw materials and fuels to gradually decarbonize all sectors of the economy, thus meeting the European Commission's targets of emission neutrality by 2050.
In this context, the project led by Repsol entitled "Research and analysis for the development of an own SOEC technology for the generation of efficient hydrogen production systems," acronym efiSOEC, was initiated.
Técnicas Reunidas, as a leading engineering company in international energy transition projects, participates in the business group developing the R&D project efiSOEC. The main goal is to research, analyze, and generate knowledge about a new system for the production of highly efficient and durable green hydrogen, based on high-temperature solid oxide electrolysis cells (SOEC).
This project is being developed by a consortium consisting of 5 Spanish companies: REPSOL S.A., TÉCNICAS REUNIDAS S.A., TUBACEX S.A., EPOWERLABS S.L., and ZGR CORPORACIÓN S.A.
Additionally, the project is supported by 7 research organizations: INSTITUT DE RECERCA EN ENERGIA DE CATALUNYA (IREC), CENTRO NACIONAL DEL HIDRÓGENO (CNH2), DYPAM-UNIVERSIDAD DE CASTILLA-LA MANCHA, TECNALIA RESEARCH & INNOVATION, and CIDETEC.
Project
The corporate R&D project titled "Research and analysis for the development of an own SOEC technology for the generation of efficient hydrogen production systems," acronym "efiSOEC," has been subsidized by the Center for Technological Development and Innovation (CDTI) and supported by the Ministry of Science and Innovation within the 2022 Missions Science and Innovation program call.
This project, framed in the Missions Program, received the second highest rating of all projects submitted in the 2022 program call.
efiSOEC aims to address the challenges of decarbonizing the intensive industry by developing national SOE technology for the efficient production of renewable hydrogen and creating the necessary industrial fabric for its commercialization. SOEC technology stands out for allowing the production of green hydrogen from renewable energies with higher efficiencies than low-temperature electrolysis, presenting a high suitability for industrial application.
In this project, started in 2022, the performance of various materials, structures, and configurations of SOEC cells is being analyzed to develop more efficient and resilient stacks, with powers of 3 kW, that overcome the current limitations of the technology. The most industrially viable solutions will be scaled and integrated into a 24 kW modular system, which, after an analysis and implementation of the necessary auxiliary systems, will be characterized and validated according to previously identified industrial performance indicators. Concurrently, from the results and solutions obtained, those that enable scaling and industrialization of the system will be evaluated and identified, thereby facilitating a rapid future implementation in the Spanish industry.
Specific contributions of each company in this project are as follows:
Repsol: Coordinates the technical activities to be developed to achieve the main objective; will develop the efficient systems of 3 and 24 kW; evaluates the validation of these systems; studies the scaling and industrialization challenges based on the results obtained.
Técnicas Reunidas: Develops the efficient systems of 3 and 24 kW; designs and plans the validation strategy on the test bench; evaluates the validation of these systems; studies the scaling challenges based on the previous results through intermediate preconceptual designs of 100-250 kW.
Tubacex: Will design, produce, characterize, and validate SOEC stacks with alternative geometries at a laboratory scale.
Epowerlabs: Will design and develop the suitable direct current power electronics for the new SOEC module; will develop highly complex proprietary software to make the EFISOEC module efficient, stable, and durable.
ZGR: Will develop an AC/DC power electronics converter suitable for the new SOEC system; will study the integration of the new converter with renewable energy sources, as well as its bidirectionality and adaptation.
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