After seven years in development, Ontario-based GH Power is nearing commercial operation of a proprietary net-zero, circular reactor technology to produce low-cost green hydrogen—as well as low-cost alumina (aluminum oxide) and thermal energy given its exothermic design—using only recycled/scrap aluminum and water as inputs.

“We have now nearly completed the testing and are looking to add a few more pieces of equipment we ordered to allow us to run 24/7 and successfully achieve commercial operation in Q1 of next year,” Gary Grahn, COO of GH Power, told Hydrogen Economist.

Although the hydrogen produced by the company’s 2MW reactor will be for sale on the market, generating revenue along with the green alumina, thermal energy and carbon offset credits, hydrogen produced by a soon-to-be scaled up 27MW modular version is to be coupled to a combined-cycle plant to produce clean electricity.

Producing green hydrogen onsite and as needed will provide a huge cost advantage for a power plant, as it negates the need for substantial hydrogen storage facilities and the high cost of transporting the fuel.

A 27MW GH Power reactor will produce 11,700t/yr of green hydrogen, fuelling a 30MW combined cycle plant with a net output of 27MW. In addition, it will produce 190,000t/yr of green alumina and 10MW of steam. Alumina is used in numerous high-value commercial applications, including lithium-ion batteries, LED lighting and semiconductors.

The power plant would also provide 1.2mt/yr of carbon offset credits if it were to replace power produced by a coal-fired plant of the same size.

Based on GH Power estimates, its 27MW reactor will produce green hydrogen at a cost of $2/kg, compared with around $5/kg using electrolysis, and green alumina at a cost of $1.25/kg, about a seventh the cost of the next-cheapest technology—environmentally unfriendly hydrochloric acid leaching.

“The diverse revenue stream allows our company to offer very competitive costs for all our products,” Grahn said.

And based on early testing using scrap iron as the input metal instead of aluminum, the GH Power reactor could slash the cost of producing green hydrogen to under $1/kg—less than the US Department of Energy’s target production cost for electrolytic hydrogen in 2031.

“Having success with one metal will allow us to speed up the transition of iron,” Grahn said. “We are now past the bench scale and, thanks to a partnership with [government department] Natural Resources Canada, we are able to fast forward to pilot testing this quarter.”

GH Power is creating a centre of excellence for metal fuels in conjunction with Carleton University in Ottawa, and recently received a C$2.2m ($1.61m) grant from a joint German and Canadian government programme as part of Canada’s hydrogen alliance with Germany to support the company’s research.

IPO on horizon

“GH Power is a privately held company,” Grahn said. “There are midterm plans to list on the stock market to help raise capital to fund the future developments of the company. The milestones that would lead up to listing include building of our first large-scale commercial plant in Canada and one plant overseas. Following this, our focus will be to and raise capital on an exchange and build many more plants.”

“At this time, the plants built in Canada are planned to be owned—perhaps partially owned depending on the financial raise for each project—and operated by our team of engineers and operators,” he said. “Overseas, we would be looking at a joint venture or licensing arrangement. Each opportunity will be looked at on an individual basis.”

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Author: Vincent Lauerman