As research into non-rare metal catalysts continues, companies in northwest Europe are working on an offshore green hydrogen demonstration project, the first European data center to run on green hydrogen, and on hydrogen-based solutions for container transport. Meanwhile, European institutions are prepping for stronger hydrogen collaboration with Africa.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory launched a new catalyst based on nitrogen and carbon to extract hydrogen from hydrogen storage materials at mild temperatures and under normal atmospheric conditions. Furthermore, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said that the country is working on attracting new investments in electric vehicles and hydrogen and Norwegian consultancy and classification society DNV launched, together with 18 industry partners, a new Joint Industry Project (JIP) to enhance the standardization for hydrogen production systems that use renewable energy-powered electrolysis to produce green hydrogen.

The retirement of coal baseload capacity, some regulatory adjustments and high energy prices volatility could bode well for the deployment of batteries in Italy, and especially in Sicily. Problems, mostly related to the timing and the structure of the auction, remain, however. We spoke about it with Michele Scolaro, Aurora Energy Research Associate.

Australia’s Fortescue Future Industries wants to develop a green hydrogen technology based on photocatalytic water splitting coupled with solar radiation. Elsewhere, Linde has signed a long-term agreement with German chemical company BASF for the supply of hydrogen and steam in France and Nel has received a contract for a containerized PEM electrolyzer and light-duty hydrogen fueling station package from an unnamed U.S. power utility.

Los Alamos National Laboratory researchers developed a new polymer fuel cell that is claimed to solve the long-known issue of overheating. Furthermore, Mexican cement producer Cemex invested in HiiROC, a UK-based hydrogen production startup, which developed a scalable technology that uses thermal plasma electrolysis to convert biomethane, flare gas, or natural gas into hydrogen at a reportedly lower cost than competing solutions.

Germany’s Schaeffler is developing a hydrogen fuel cell that runs on a liquid organic hydrogen carrier, and Australia’s H2X Global has formed a joint venture with Indian automotive components manufacturer Advik Hi-Tech to manufacture hydrogen fuel cells, generators and vehicles.

Elsewhere, several hydrogen projects were announced in Norway, Germany, India, China and the UK. Royal Dutch Shell started operations at the power-to-hydrogen electrolyzer in China and Germany’s Linde Engineering signed a contract for the construction a green hydrogen demonstration plant in Norway. Furthermore, Green Hydrogen Systems signed a supply agreement with Edinburgh-based Logan Energy to deliver electrolysis equipment for a project in England.

In the next ten years, according to Milanese consultant REF-E’s simulations, storage in Italy will mostly be driven by opportunities in the ancillary services market. After 2030, when renewables will provide most electricity, REF-E believes the price spread between different hours of the day should be high enough to cover the cost-per-cycle of energy-intensive storage. Energy expert Virginia Canazza discussed the topic with pv magazine.

According to BloombergNEF, electrolyzer shipments may reach up to 2.5GW in 2022, up significantly from 458MW last year. China and the United States will become the world’s first and second markets, respectively.

Germany-based Linde Engineering has started up a full-scale pilot plant in Dormagen to showcase how hydrogen can be separated from natural gas streams using its membrane technology. Furthermore, Abu Dhabi-based renewable energy developer Masdar has teamed up with French energy giants Engie and Totalenergies on two separate hydrogen projects and Sweden’s nuclear power company OKG signed its first contract with an external buyer to enter the hydrogen market as a producer and supplier.