Green hydrogen could be commercially produced at a cost that is competitive with grey hydrogen if advanced renewable energy generation processes are employed, according to Bill Gross, founder and CEO of renewable technology firm Heliogen.

The vast majority of the world’s hydrogen is produced via methane steam reforming as grey hydrogen. Green hydrogen, powered by renewable energy, is typically three times more expensive.

However, using advanced renewable technologies, Heliogen has proven in a prototype setting that it can produce green hydrogen more cheaply than grey hydrogen, according to Gross. “We used computation, robotics and new materials to make green hydrogen that is cost competitive.”

Heliogen’s prototype plant is able to produce hydrogen at a rate of 1mn kg/yr at a cost of $1.88/kg—crucially less than the $2.2/kg that is the standard industry cost of producing grey hydrogen.

The prototype plant is based on two key breakthroughs.

The first was improving the capacity factor—which measures actual energy output against possible energy output over time—of the solar panels used to power the electrolysis process. The firm’s concentrated solar power technology has a capacity factor of around 85pc, far higher than the 21pc of conventional solar panels.

The second breakthrough was to find a way to store energy, so the electrolyer receives a consistent flow of power even when the sun is not shining. 

“Our system converts photons to stored heat to power electrolysis even after multiple cloudy days,” said Gross.

The hydrogen produced can then be transported anywhere in the world and be used instead of natural gas as a fuel, among many other uses.

While the technology is proven, Gross says much more work is still required on the  infrastructure side in order for it to be deployed commercially. “We need to invest in many breakthroughs to make this happen at scale,” he says.

Last year, Heliogen was awarded $39mn by the US Department of Energy to develop a project that partners its concentrated solar power technology.

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Author: Tom Young