Electrical Hydrogen desires to handle these points by creating electrolyzers which have about 10 instances the capability of right this moment’s commonplace gadgets whereas additionally being extra reasonably priced and environment friendly.
The corporate is already working a pair of electrolyzer crops in California, together with a one-megawatt facility in San Carlos and a 10-megawatt challenge in San Jose. In April, Electrical Hydrogen opened an electrolyzer manufacturing facility in Devens, Massachusetts, which is able to crank out its first line of 100-megawatt electrolyzers. The corporate additionally raised $380 million in funding in 2023 from backers together with BP, United Airways, and Microsoft, making it the primary electrolyzer firm to be valued at over $1 billion.
Key indicators
- Trade: Hydrogen
- Based: 2020
- Headquarters: Natick, Massachusetts, USA
- Notable reality: Two of the corporate’s three cofounders got here from First Photo voltaic, a photo voltaic panel producer that’s additionally featured on this yr’s listing.
Potential for impression
To gradual the tempo of local weather change, we have to drastically scale back our use of fossil fuels. Closely polluting industries like fertilizer and chemical manufacturing are notoriously troublesome to scrub up. Fertilizer alone accounted for two% of worldwide emissions in 2022, based on a research revealed in Scientific Studies. It’s additionally tough to remove emissions from sure varieties of transportation, together with transport and aviation, primarily as a result of fuels can merely retailer extra power for a given weight than right this moment’s batteries.
It’s these sectors the place hydrogen reveals essentially the most promise, as a result of it may be made into gas that produces solely water vapor as a by-product. However it’s arduous to make clear hydrogen cost-competitive with fossil fuels.
Caveats
Electrical Hydrogen might want to show that its 100-megawatt electrolyzer programs can function reliably at a low price. To make low-emission hydrogen, the electrolyzers might want to use quite a lot of renewable power, which can not at all times be out there. As well as, Electrical Hydrogen doesn’t share many particulars publicly about how its know-how works, which makes it troublesome to gauge the corporate’s claims and progress.
