Hydrogen powder as a solution for grid congestion and easy transport: Dutch startup sees great opportunities – H2Flexx
Hydrogen can play an important role in a sustainable energy system, but faces challenges in transport, among other things. The Dutch startup H2Flexx has an innovative solution that is ready for market launch.
Hydrogen is potentially an important energy carrier in the transition to a CO2-free energy system, but it still faces a few serious challenges. In addition to production—hydrogen must be extracted from water via electrolysis or from natural gas through chemical processing—transport is a bottleneck. The Dutch startup H2Flexx believes it has an innovative breakthrough on this latter point : easily transportable hydrogen in powder form.
When establishing new transport infrastructure for hydrogen, attention is being paid to pipeline networks, among other things. However, this requires special care regarding safety . If you want to transport hydrogen in gaseous form, this is done under higher pressure. Gas leaks must be prevented in this process, as hydrogen is highly flammable when exposed to air.
An alternative transport method relies on liquid hydrogen , but this requires heavily refrigerated storage tanks with temperatures of minus 253 degrees Celsius.
Hydrogen in powder form
The Dutch startup H2Flexx has a different approach in mind: making hydrogen transportable in powder form, after which it can be converted into pure hydrogen relatively easily at the point of use. ‘Our product offers direct benefits for the transport of hydrogen. It is a potential game changer,’ says Chief Commercial Officer Sander Castel.
H2Flexx was formed this month through a merger of two other startups, H2Fuel and HydroFlexx. Both companies were already working on similar technologies. Castel: ‘Together, that makes for a unique combination.’
The hydrogen powder consists of a composition of sodium, boron, and hydrogen and is marketed under the name H2EASY. When you add water to the powder, pure hydrogen is released through the chemical reaction.
Castel: ‘One challenge was that the oxygen atoms from the added water bind to the sodium and boron residue. If you want to reuse that to make new hydrogen powder, you first have to remove the oxygen. We have found a way to perform that step much more efficiently.’
The latter is crucial, because it enables H2Flexx to establish a closed loop. After hydrogen extraction, the residual product can be converted back into H2EASY in an affordable way.
Opportunities for useful application of surplus green electricity during grid congestion
To turn the residual product back into hydrogen powder, new hydrogen must be added. Ideally, you should use green hydrogen for this to make the entire process truly sustainable.
Castel sees various possibilities for this. The first option is close to home and addresses grid congestion. ‘In the Netherlands, you can use H2EASY to better absorb fluctuations in the supply of renewable energy,’ says Castel.
At times when there is a surplus supply of green electricity, you can use it to produce cheap green hydrogen via electrolysis. This can then be used to produce hydrogen powder for later use.
Transport of hydrogen over long distances
Another route is to produce hydrogen on a large scale using electricity from solar energy in the Middle East, for example, and convert it into hydrogen powder that can be easily exported, says Castel.
This possibility is being explored within the framework of the Noorbridge project . This is a collaboration between the Dutch hydrogen alliance Holland Hydrogen Hub, the Port of Rotterdam, TNO, and a number of organizations in Oman. The project is investigating various options for hydrogen carriers that should make it possible to produce green hydrogen on a large scale in Oman for export to the Netherlands. Castel: ‘Our solution performs very well there.’
Due to plans for a Dutch hydrogen network with European branches, the H2Flexx solution could be of interest to parties such as Gasunie. For instance, hydrogen powder exported from a country like Oman could be converted into hydrogen gas at an import terminal in Rotterdam. This could serve as a feedstock for a European pipeline network.
Producing hydrogen at filling stations
The fact that H2Flexx hydrogen powder is easily transportable by ship or truck, without fire hazard, also offers possibilities for applications in mobility. Castel: ‘We have developed an installation the size of a twenty-foot container to produce hydrogen with H2EASY. That involves 7.5 kilos of hydrogen per hour.’
Such a container is suitable, for example, for placement at gas stations. This provides either immediate fuel for hydrogen trucks, for instance, or the hydrogen is used to generate electricity for electric transport using a fuel cell. H2Flexx is holding exploratory discussions with market parties regarding this.
Scaling up hydrogen powder production
The hydrogen powder is currently produced on a smaller scale in H2Flexx laboratories, but the plan is to have the first larger production facility operational in 2028, with a capacity of 5,000 tonnes per year. Castel: ‘We do not want to handle the scaling up ourselves and are looking for licensing partners to take on the production part.’
On the global market, green hydrogen is currently still substantially more expensive than grey hydrogen. With the latter variant, hydrogen is extracted from natural gas through a chemical process. This is accompanied by CO2 emissions. The use of green electricity for electrolysis, which allows water to be split into hydrogen and oxygen, has the major advantage of being a CO2-free process.
According to market analyses , green hydrogen currently costs between 2.50 and 5 dollars per kilo, compared to 1.20 to 1.80 dollars per kilo for grey hydrogen. Castel says that the cost of H2EASY falls within the green hydrogen range.
There are, of course, costs associated with the production of H2EASY. But if you add water to the powder to produce hydrogen through a chemical reaction, half of that hydrogen comes from the powder and the other half from hydrogen that was in the added water. The latter means that you are extracting hydrogen from water for more or less free, which benefits the overall cost.
READ the latest news shaping the hydrogen market at Hydrogen Central
Hydrogen powder as a solution for grid congestion and easy transport: Dutch startup sees great opportunities – H2Flexx, source
