Rolls-Royce Hydrogen Inroads

Rolls-Royce is acquiring 54% of Hoeller Electrolyzer to produce mtu electrolyzer products. Hoeller Electrolyzer is developing highly efficient polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) stacks for the production of hydrogen.

Hydrogen is needed for fuel cells, hydrogen engines, the production of synthetic ‘drop-in’ fuels, and for industrial processes that currently use hydrogen that is not created in a carbon neutral process. High-performance electrolyzers are a key component of any hydrogen system.

The electrochemical reaction takes place in a cell between plate-shaped electrodes separated by membranes. Hundreds of cells located one above the other and pressed together form a 'stack', the heart of an electrolyzer.

Particularly high efficiency is promised by special surface technologies for the bipolar plates, which significantly reduce the use of expensive precious metals platinum and iridium as catalysts, as well as increased output pressure.

Armin Fürderer, head of Net Zero Solutions business unit of Power Systems says, “We're going to launch electrolyzers with several MW of power right from the start. A total output of over 100 MW is conceivable by combining several electrolyzers.”