Scalable Electrolytic Systems for Renewable Hydrogen Production (Cooperative Research and Development Final Report, CRADA Number CRD-18-747)
The project focuses on offshore wind energy which is an emergent renewable energy source in the United States. Onsite hydrogen production for this sector is not available. The overall goal of GTA's work is development of scalable multi-megawatt water electrolysis systems that exclude platinum group metals, are constructed from readily available commodity materials and are mass produced using advanced manufacturing and robotics. They fabricated and successfully tested a scalable TRL 4 laboratory prototype that demonstrated promising results for achieving the goal. They further performed calculations and prepared scale drawings for an envisioned onsite TRL 8 electrolytic hydrogen production system at an offshore 8 MW wind turbine. The work plan of the CRADA proposal between NREL and GTA focuses on validation of the current TRL 4 prototype with potential development and refinement for advancement to a TRL 5 system. GTA, Inc. proposes joining the H2@Scale consortium to leverage DOE funds, benefit from and contribute to the common knowledge-base and work with NREL as a CRADA partner.