Energy storage technologies are required to make full use of renewable energy sources, and electrochemical batteries offer a great deal of flexibility in the design of energy systems. Electrochemical batteries are increasingly being used in mobile devices, vehicles, and grid storage.
However, applications such as heavy trucking and industrial processes require huge amounts of energy to be dispatched. This makes hydrogen an attractive option.
Most of the cost of electrochemical water splitting goes towards the electricity needed to split water atoms. Hydrogen production is considered green when paired with low-cost, renewable sources like solar or wind.
A California hydrogen developer Ohmium and a Netherlands-based desalination company Aquastill have collaborated to produce green hydrogen fuel from desalinated ocean water.
The collaboration will integrate Aquastill’s desalination capabilities with Ohmium’s modular green hydrogen electrolyzers. This will create new decarbonization opportunities for businesses operating in coastal areas by providing a more efficient, sustainable, and affordable way of producing clean energy.
Additionally, the innovative integration of modular desalination units will facilitate new applications for cost-effective green hydrogen production, including co-locating PEM electrolyzers with offshore wind farms, to enable the production of green hydrogen at the source.
Both companies have already begun assessing the optimal integration of these technologies, with the intention of having these fine-tuned modules commercially available as soon as possible.
“This strategic collaboration is a great example of how the innovative integration of Ohmium and Aquastill’s technologies can enable the expansion of green hydrogen production to new sectors and geographies,” said Arne Ballantine, CEO of Ohmium International. “Utilizing Aquastill’s membrane technology to efficiently produce green hydrogen from seawater has the potential to be a game changer for companies operating in coastal or rural regions that want to affordably and sustainably decarbonize.”
Aquastill’s desalination technology is powered by the residual heat from Ohmium’s electrolyzers, and the membrane distillation process simultaneously provides additional cooling capabilities for the electrolyzer.
Unlike other energy-intensive desalination technologies, the waste heat membrane-based distillation process has minimal energy requirements. These advanced desalination modules feature a modular and compact system design, making them easily transportable wherever clean water is needed.
