Sunfire and P2X Solutions have successfully installed a 20MW electrolysis plant in Harjavarta, Finland, which is expected to start producing green hydrogen later this year (2024).
The project, completed one year after the groundbreaking ceremony, is expected to be a milestone in the launch of Finland’s green hydrogen market.
read more: Sunfire provides electrolysis equipment for 20MW hydrogen production project in Finland
Commissioning of the 20MW Sunfire pressurized alkaline electrolyser is expected to begin shortly, ahead of production commencing in late 2024.
Harnessing renewable energy from wind turbines, the facility will produce approximately 400 kg of green hydrogen per hour when fully operational. Sunfire has also designed a mechanized plant to produce synthetic methane from carbon dioxide (CO2) and green hydrogen.
In November last year (2023), P2X Solutions signed an offtake agreement with Danisco Sweeteners. The company plans to use green hydrogen to produce xylitol for the food industry at its plant in Kotka, Finland.
The 70 million euro ($75.4 million) project was funded with 36 million euro ($38.8 million) from the Finnish government’s Ministry of Economy and Employment and the Finnish Climate Fund.
Sunfire CEO Nils Aldag said this was a European lighthouse project, adding: “This is a pioneering project with P2X Solutions where our pressurized alkaline electrolyzer will operate on an industrial scale. I feel honored to be a part of it,” he added.
He added: “We are particularly pleased that ‘Made in Europe’ electrolysis technology will contribute to Finland’s energy history.”
German electrolyzer OEM Sunfire began serial production of alkaline electrolyzers in 2023. At its facility in Solingen, Germany, Sunfire announced that its annual production capacity will reach 500MW by the end of 2023.
Last year (2023), the first kilogram of hydrogen was produced by RWE from a 250kW Sunfire electrolyzer at a gas-fired power plant in Emsland, Germany.
read more: First kilogram of hydrogen produced at RWE’s Lingen plant
Conference scale: PEM and alkaline leading electrolyzer charging
As the world seeks to decarbonize, green hydrogen is firmly established in global energy discussions and is expected to play a role across mobility, energy, and industry as a clean energy carrier.
But realizing that potential will require a huge scale-up of the technologies needed to produce green hydrogen.
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), if all electrolyser projects in the global pipeline were implemented by 2030, installed electrolyzer capacity would range from 170GW to 365GW¹, but almost all technologies As with , there is debate as to which one to choose. route gives the most promising results.
Electrolysis of water for hydrogen production is not a new technology. In fact, it has a history of over 200 years. Using electrochemical reactions, electrolysis splits water into its constituent parts hydrogen and oxygen.
However, in recent years, a kind of two-horse race has formed between two different systems that appear to dominate the world’s green hydrogen production projects: proton exchange membranes (PEMs) and alkaline systems. …
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