thyssenkrupp Expands Production Capacities for Water Electrolysis

09.06.2020

Portfolio covers entire value chains for green chemicals, from hydrogen production to sustainable manufacture of ammonia, methanol, synthetic natural gas and fertilizers. Green hydrogen is gaining in importance worldwide as an energy carrier and CO2-free feedstock for the chemical industry. As a result, demand is rising for industrial electrolysis plants that can produce green hydrogen cost-efficiently. thyssenkrupp has significantly expanded its manufacturing capacities for such electrolysis plants and can now per year produce electrolysis cells with a total power consumption of up to one gigawatt, together with its strategic supplier and joint venture partner De Nora. These production capacities will be extended continuously in the future.

Green hydrogen, produced by electrolysis using renewable electricity, is essential for a successful energy transition and for meeting international climate targets. Hydrogen is not only a clean energy carrier and fuel; it is also a CO2-neutral feedstock for the production of green chemicals. As a specialist in the engineering and construction of chemical plants, thyssenkrupp can already realize entire value chains, from the large-scale production of hydrogen to the subsequent manufacture of sustainable base chemicals such as ammonia and methanol. In corresponding industrial processes this makes it possible to dispense with fossil raw materials and reduce CO2 emissions directly at source.

To simplify the construction of new hydrogen plants and keep costs down, thyssenkrupp offers its electrolyzers in prefabricated skid-mounted modules. One module produces 4,000 cubic meters of hydrogen per hour. The units are easy to transport and install and can be combined to realize projects of several hundred megawatts or gigawatts. Due to their high reaction speed, the plants can be operated flexibly; for the production of green hydrogen for industrial power-to-x applications as well as for grid stabilization.

The patented design of the electrolysis cells, equipped with proprietary anodic and cathodic coatings developed by De Nora, allows high system efficiencies of up to 80 percent. It is based on leading electrolysis technologies from thyssenkrupp. So far, more than 600 projects and electrochemical plants worldwide with a total rating of over 10 gigawatts have been realized by the company.

 STRATEGIC RESEARCH INSTITUTE, STEELGURU