US Department of Energy Announces $8 Million for Projects to Advance Electrolyzer and Fuel Cell Manufacturing RD&D through National Lab Consortium
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced $8,055,000 to support seven projects that will advance efficient, scalable, high-throughput, and high-quality processes for manufacturing fuel cell and electrolyzer materials through the Roll-to-Roll (R2R) Consortium. This consortium of national laboratories focuses on developing efficient processes to reduce the cost of manufacturing electrolyzers and fuel cells. Funding for the seven projects is through the Biden-Harris Administration’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL).
The R2R Consortium will use this funding to engage with the following private sector partners, which were selected from applicants to a funding opportunity for cooperative research and development agreements (CRADAs) announced earlier this year:
- Nel Hydrogen ($1.5 million in federal funding) to develop a roll-to-roll process for alkaline exchange membrane water electrolyzers
- Solvay Specialty Polymers ($1.5 million in federal funding) to accelerate the scale up of hydrocarbon ionomer manufacturing
- Power to Hydrogen ($1 million in federal funding) to develop an ink formulation and roll-to-roll coating process for manufacturing of cathodes
- FOM Technologies ($755,000 in federal funding) to develop slot-die and drying systems optimized for roll-to-roll coating of fuel cell membrane electrode assemblies
- Ionomr Innovations ($1 million in federal funding) to improve and scale up ionomer process chemistry and membrane production methods
- Pajarito Powder ($1 million in federal funding) to develop and validate a simplified and sustainable one-pot, solvent-free synthesis process for manufacturing engineered carbon supports
- Kraton Corporation ($1.3 million in federal funding) to enable commercial-scale production of low-cost, high performance alkaline and proton exchange membranes
This funding supports DOE’s Hydrogen Shot—part of DOE’s Energy Earthshots Initiative—which aims to reduce the cost of producing clean hydrogen production to $1 per kilogram. These efforts will complement other BIL-funded manufacturing and recycling efforts, helping to fast-track the growth of the clean hydrogen economy as laid out in the U.S. National Clean Hydrogen Strategy and Roadmap.
These projects will be led by private sector entities partnering with at least two national laboratories through the R2R Consortium, and they will span approximately two years in duration, with industry partners providing at least 50% cost sharing. The R2R Consortium comprises the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Argonne National Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
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US Department of Energy Announces $8 Million for Projects to Advance Electrolyzer and Fuel Cell Manufacturing RD&D through National Lab Consortium, source
