Japanese technology firm Asahi Kasei has partnered with industrial major De Nora to develop and market small-scale pressurised alkaline electrolysers for hydrogen production.
Under a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), the two plan to jointly develop, study, evaluate and sell containerised electrolysers 1-7.5MW in size.
By no means a newcomer to electrolysis, Asahi Kasei has almost 50 years of experience in constructing, supplying and operating chlor-alkali systems worldwide.
However, under the new collaboration, the Japanese company will look to leverage De Nora’s knowledge of electrodes and smaller hydrogen electrolysers. De Nora, a major shareholder in thyssenkrupp nucera, holds a wide portfolio of electrolysis components.
The pair say the partnership comprises development capabilities for membranes, cells and other components, as well as supply chain construction and live system monitoring technology.
Kenji Takeda, Executive Officer at Asahi Kasei for Green Solution Project Business Development, said the joint effort will “lower the hurdle” for customers to adopt hydrogen electrolysis.
“We believe that the combination of De Nora’s technological expertise and experience as a world leader in the field of electrolysis for many years, together with Asahi Kasei’s customer experience-oriented business model cultivated through chlor-alkali electrolysis, will play an important role in the development and deployment of this system in the addressable markets,” Takeda said.
Asahi Kasei started operating its hydrogen pilot project in Japan in May this year, using its 0.8MW modules.
Read more: Asahi’s multi-modules hydrogen production project begins operation
De Nora CEO Paolo Dellachá said the new electrolyser systems would focus on meeting hydrogen demand in mobility, metallurgy and other hard-to-abate sectors.
Slated to support the development of hydrogen production and use clusters, Dellachá hopes the collaboration will support the construction of its Italian electrolyser gigafactory.
Having broken ground on the Cernusco sul Naviglio facility this June, the factory is expected to boast 2GW of production capacity by 2030.
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