News

PHAEDRUS: Advanced Refueling Project

27 October 2021

ITM Power (AIM: ITM), the energy storage and clean fuel company, is pleased to announce the completion of the Phaedrus project. The project focussed on the development of an all electrochemical hydrogen refuelling station including on-site production by electrolysis. The contribution of ITM Power has been the development of an electrolyser design capable of delivering 200kg/day of hydrogen at high pressure, with a system efficiency of up to 75% at high current density.

ITM Power (AIM: ITM), the energy storage and clean fuel company, is pleased to announce the completion of the Phaedrus project. The project focussed on the development of an all electrochemical hydrogen refuelling station including on-site production by electrolysis. The contribution of ITM Power has been the development of an electrolyser design capable of delivering 200kg/day of hydrogen at high pressure, with a system efficiency of up to 75% at high current density. The design has been validated at the 5kg/day scale and integrated with an electrochemical compressor developed by HyEt, at ITM's facilities in Sheffield, adjacent to the recently opened hydrogen refueling station at the Advanced Manufacturing Park, just off the M1 motorway. The Group currently has £10.49m of projects under contract and £7.92m of contracts in the final stages of negotiation.

About the Phaedrus Project On 28 November 2012 the company announced that it has received confirmation of a €3.59m grant award from a programme of the European Union's Joint Technology Initiatives. The award was to a consortium for the development of an advanced refuelling system using ITM Power's high pressure hydrogen electrolysis technology. The Company's share of this award is €0.87m. The programme, known as the PHAEDRUS project and funded under the Seventh Framework Programme (SP1-JTI-FCH.2011.1.8), aimed to develop an all electrochemical 70MPa (700 bar) hydrogen refuelling station (HRS) for fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEV) in the passenger car segment. This aimed to demonstrate the applicability of electrochemical hydrogen compression technology in combination with self-pressurising Polymer Electrolyte Membrane (PEM) electrolyser technology.

In the three year programme, ITM Power has worked with consortium members Hydrogen Efficiency Technologies B.V. (HyET); H2 Logic A/S; Hexagon Composites ASA; Daimler AG; Shell Global Solutions International B.V; Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung; Association pour la Recherche et le Développement des Méthodes Processus Industriels (ARMINES); European Commission, Directorate-General Joint Research Centre, Institute for Energy (JRC-IE); Hochschule Esslingen and Uniresearch B.V. which had overall management responsibility for the project.

The project has successfully developed:

  • A model for the most energy efficient method of generating, compressing and dispensing hydrogen at 70MPa (700 bar) from the University of Applied Sciences, Esslingen

  • Extensive durability data for high pressure and high current density electrolyser stack components

  • Low cost injection moulding processes to provide proven high pressure electrolyser stack components

  • Optimisation of an electrochemical compressor offering a route to hydrogen compression without moving parts

  • Successful development and use of a high pressure, high current density stack test rig and integration with electrochemical compressor

  • Technology cost comparison undertaken with Daimler

Dr Simon Bourne, CTO, ITM Power plc commented: "PHAEDRUS has been an excellent platform from which to develop, test and qualify our next generation electrolyser components. Increasing current density and pressure are two effective ways to reduce capital cost and footprint, further enhancing our clean fuel offering. I am grateful to our project partners and the FCH-JU for their support."

For further information please visit www.itm-power.com or contact:

ITM Power plc
+44 (0)114 244 5111
Graham Cooley, CEO

Zeus Capital
+44 (0)20 7533 7727
Dan Bate / John Treacy / John Goold

Tavistock
+44 (0)20 7920 3150
Simon Hudson / James Collins

About ITM Power plc:
ITM Power manufactures integrated hydrogen energy solutions which are rapid response and high pressure that meet the requirements for grid balancing and energy storage services, and for the production of clean fuel for transport, renewable heat and chemicals. ITM Power plc was admitted to the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange in 2004 and is a founder member of the Social Stock Exchange. The company received £4.9m as a strategic investment from JCB in March 2015. The company signed a forecourt siting agreement with Shell in September 2015 and a fuel contract with Toyota in October 2015. The Group currently has £10.49m of projects under contract and £7.92m of contracts in the final stages of negotiation.

www.itm-power.com

About the FCH JU
The Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH JU) is a unique public private partnership supporting research, technological development and demonstration activities in fuel cell and hydrogen energy technologies in Europe. Its aim is to accelerate the market introduction of these technologies, realising their potential as an instrument in achieving a carbon-lean energy system.

The three members of the FCH JU are the European Commission, fuel cell and hydrogen industries represented by the NEW Industry Grouping and the research community represented by Research Grouping N.ERGHY.

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