Yara Clean Ammonia has joined up with the HyPilot project, alongside Hystar, Equinor and Gassco.
The plan involves Gassco commissioning a PEM electrolyser in the second half of 2023, at the Kårstø Gas Processing Plant in Rogaland, Norway.
Yara is primarily interested in the production of green ammonia. The HyPilot scheme aims to demonstrate Hystar’s electrolysers can produce green hydrogen at a lower cost.
The plan will run the 1 MW containerised electrolyser for 10,000 hours. This will give the companies data on how it performs.
Equinor’s part focuses on HyPilot’s ability to operate dynamically, that is taking power from varying offshore wind.
“HyPilot marks a significant moment for the hydrogen industry, bringing together leading industry names to showcase Hystar’s patented, ultra-efficient electrolysers,” Fredrik Mowill CEO of Hystar said. “Today’s announcement is a key step towards scaling up and enabling widespread commercial deployment of large-scale green hydrogen production.”
The membrane in the Hystar electrolyser is thinner than in other technologies. The company claims this provides better efficiency owing to lower resistance.
“We are pleased that Yara, Enova, Equinor, and Gassco share our vision of commercialising technology for lower-cost green hydrogen. Working together in the years ahead will enable us to drive unseen levels of cost and production efficiencies across hard-to-abate sectors,” said Mowill.
Valuable inputs
Yara SVP of upstream projects and technologies Lise Winther welcomed the chance to study results from the pilot electrolyser.
“The knowledge we gain from the HyPilot project will give valuable input to our work in developing green ammonia for fertiliser, deep-sea shipping, and power production,” she said.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) has predicted renewable electricity produced hydrogen costs could fall by 30% by 2030. Hystar has said it can already meet or exceed these targets.
Norway’s state-backed Enova stepped in to provide support for Hystar’s technology with a 38.2 million krone ($3.53mn) investment in March.
Speaking at the time, Minister of Climate and Environment Espen Barth Eide said there was a need to cut emissions and create jobs.
“Hydrogen will play an important role in the green shift. But first we are completely dependent on reducing production costs. Hystar’s plans can therefore be of great importance in reducing greenhouse gas emissions,” the minister said.
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