Page 34: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (June 2024)

FUTURE FUELS

The inauguration of Air

Liquide and Siemens

Energy Gigawatt electrolyzer factory paves the way to renewable hydrogen development at scale.

Image courtesy of Air Liquide

GETTING ELECTROLYZERS

READY TO MEET

GREEN HYDROGEN DEMANDS

Electrolyzer technology is going to have to get cheaper and more scalable if it is going to enable a global green hydrogen economy.

By Wendy Laursen omewhere on a benchtop in Brimsdown, Lon- able to do this at scale. don, there is a lab-scale prototype that can ex- Electricity makes up most of the production cost of green tract the platinum and polymers from PEM elec- hydrogen, and researchers around the world are trying to re- trolyzer membranes so they can be recycled into duce that, but Johnson Matthey’s benchtop unit is also repre-

S new membranes. sentative of the fact that, despite new electrolyzer technolo-

Why? To reduce the cost of electrolyzers and therefore gies well past lab-scale testing, there will still be a major role green hydrogen. Electrolysers use electricity to split water played by more established technologies such as PEM and into hydrogen and oxygen, and to meet global expectations alkaline electrolyzers.

for 2030 and then 2050, they must produce green hydrogen Current technologies can be roughly categorized into two cheaper than hydrocarbon-based methods. They must also be main groups: those suitable for use with intermittent renew- 34 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News • June 2024

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