Southern California Gas Co (SoCalGas) and electrolyser start-up Evoloh Inc have concluded a collaborative research project aimed at refining Evoloh's anion exchange membrane (AEM) technology and enhancing its manufacturing processes. The joint effort has yielded significant improvements, with potential to reduce capital costs of the electrolyser technology by approximately 25%, the companies announced on Wednesday.
Under SoCalGas's Research, Development, and Demonstration (RD&D) Programme, the project achieved a 15% increase in hydrogen production efficiency for Evoloh's Nautilus series electrolyser stack.
“Innovative projects like this can play a critical role in lowering costs and accelerating production times for electrolyser systems, making renewable hydrogen production more competitive against conventional energy sources,” stated Jawaad Malik, Chief Strategy and Sustainability Officer at SoCalGas.
Evoloh, supported by investors including Breakthrough Energy, focuses on advancing AEM electrolyser technology. The company aims to ramp up production to 3.75 GW of electrolyser stacks annually by 2025 at its manufacturing facility in Massachusetts, with plans to scale up to 15 GW by 2027. Later this year, Evoloh intends to commence megawatt-scale testing at its new headquarters in Santa Clara, California.
The collaboration between SoCalGas and Evoloh underscores efforts to drive technological innovation in clean hydrogen production, contributing to sustainable energy solutions amid global efforts to reduce carbon emissions.