Bloom Energy announced a new collaboration with Shell to develop replicable, large-scale solid oxide electrolyzer (SOEC) systems using Bloom’s proprietary hydrogen electrolyzer technology to produce hydrogen for potential use at Shell assets.
Through Bloom’s SOEC technology, the companies hope to produce clean hydrogen at scale to augment or replace existing fossil fuel-powered “grey” hydrogen supplies created at refineries by high carbon dioxide-emitting steam-methane reformation.
With this technology, Bloom and Shell will be able to produce “green” hydrogen from water electrolysis using renewable energy – thereby eliminating a significant portion of greenhouse gas emissions.
Bloom recently completed a demonstration of its technology using a 4 MW capacity solid oxide electrolyzer at the NASA Ames research facility in California, where it produced 2.4 metric tons of hydrogen per day.
The results showed that the high-temperature, high-efficiency unit produced significantly more hydrogen per MW than commercially demonstrated lower-temperature electrolyzers, such as proton electrolyte membrane or alkaline.
“This technology could represent a potentially transformative moment for opportunities to decarbonize several hard-to-abate industry sectors,” said KR Sridhar, Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Bloom Energy. “As the world leader in solid oxide electrolyzer technology, we are poised to provide customers around the world with our proprietary, American-made energy technology to both reduce carbon footprint and sustain economic growth.”
