Electrical Hydrogen needs to deal with these points by creating electrolyzers which have about 10 occasions the capability of at the moment’s commonplace units whereas additionally being extra reasonably priced and environment friendly.
The corporate is already working a pair of electrolyzer vegetation in California, together with a one-megawatt facility in San Carlos and a 10-megawatt venture in San Jose. In April, Electrical Hydrogen opened an electrolyzer manufacturing unit in Devens, Massachusetts, which can 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 truth: Two of the corporate’s three cofounders got here from First Photo voltaic, a photo voltaic panel producer that’s additionally featured on this 12 months’s listing.
Potential for influence
To gradual the tempo of local weather change, we have to drastically cut back our use of fossil fuels. Closely polluting industries like fertilizer and chemical manufacturing are notoriously tough to wash up. Fertilizer alone accounted for two% of world emissions in 2022, in line with a research printed in Scientific Experiences. It’s additionally difficult to eradicate emissions from sure sorts of transportation, together with delivery and aviation, primarily as a result of fuels can merely retailer extra vitality for a given weight than at the 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. But it surely’s onerous to make clear hydrogen cost-competitive with fossil fuels.
Caveats
Electrical Hydrogen might want to show that its 100-megawatt electrolyzer techniques can function reliably at a low value. To make low-emission hydrogen, the electrolyzers might want to use plenty of renewable vitality, which can not at all times be accessible. As well as, Electrical Hydrogen doesn’t share many particulars publicly about how its expertise works, which makes it tough to gauge the corporate’s claims and progress.