The outdoor pressurized alkaline system is built around Sunfire’s second-generation 30 bar(g) pressurized alkaline stack. The higher operating pressure reduces downstream hydrogen compression requirements, and the company said the stack is already operating in industrial plants across Europe for green hydrogen production.

Sunfire has developed the 50 MW module from its existing 10 MW pressurized alkaline module for deployment in triple-digit megawatt projects. The new configuration combines five times the installed capacity of the previous solution with a design optimized for outdoor deployment.

Key plant components have been centralized, air cooling has been integrated as standard, prefabrication has been increased, and system interfaces have been optimized. According to Sunfire, these changes simplify installation and commissioning and reduce total installed costs for the overall green hydrogen plant. In a 100 MW project scenario, the number of required electrolyzer modules falls from 10 to 2, and a dedicated electrolyzer building is no longer required.

Christian von Olshausen, CTO of Sunfire, said: “With the new system, we are applying five key levers to improve project economics: First, we increase module capacity from 10 to 50 megawatts, significantly reducing material and component requirements. Second, the solution is fully designed for outdoor operation, eliminating buildings and building related infrastructure as major cost drivers. Third, key interfaces are already integrated into the system, substantially reducing complexity. Fourth, a high degree of prefabrication shortens installation time and minimizes on site effort. Fifth, the system is based on our proven 30 bar stack technology with validated performance. Taken together, these five improvements reduce total installed costs for our customers by up to 50 percent.”

Nils Aldag, CEO of Sunfire, said: “We have actively shaped this market and, over the past 16 years, implemented projects ranging from several hundred kilowatts to low megawatt capacities and up to full industrial scale. Throughout this process, we have worked closely with our customers and developed a clear understanding of what matters in real world applications. Accordingly, our current 100 MW projects are repeat orders from existing customers.”

The system is aimed at large-scale hydrogen projects in refining, chemicals, and ammonia production, where hydrogen supply is being built up on an industrial scale with a lower carbon footprint.

Source:  Hydrogentechworld