The Hydrogen Stream: GKN Aerospace delivers ground-based liquid hydrogen fuel system demonstrator

GKN Aerospace has delivered a ground-based demonstrator for a liquid hydrogen aircraft fuel system. It was designed, built and tested it in collaboration with Filton Systems Engineering, under the UK-funded Safe Flight project. The project looked at the feasibility of liquid hydrogen fuel as a source to improve UAS search and rescue. “The team have demonstrated fueling and storage of liquid hydrogen, conditioning and distribution of cryogenic gas, and the use of PEM fuel cells to generate electrical power,” said Max Brown, VP of technology at GKN. The project supplied the fuel cell power system with hydrogen at the required temperature and pressure over a range of electrical loads typical of a UAS search-and-rescue mission.

Germany plans to provide €550 million to support hydrogen projects throughout the world, via two new hydrogen funds. The €250 million Ptx Development Fund will promote hydrogen investments in developing and emerging countries, while the €300 million PtX Growth Fund will support infrastructure and accelerate the global market ramp-up of green hydrogen. “The new green hydrogen economy must be fairer than the old fossil economy,” said German Development Minister Svenja Schulze at COP27. “This means that developing countries must also benefit from the value chains of the future.”

Tree Energy Solutions (TES) and the Swiss Association of Waste-to-Energy Plant Operators (VBSA) have partnered to decarbonize 29 waste-to-energy plants in Switzerland. “The scope of the partnership will be to establish how much CO2 should be removed from Switzerland and over what period of time, so that these quantities can be taken into account when dimensioning the transport network in Germany as well as any connecting routes,” said the two companies. TES is working to combine hydrogen and CO2 to deliver “renewable and affordable eNG (green gas),” with a focus on Germany. 

First Hydrogen announced that its first zero-emission light commercial vehicles (LCVs) would shortly undergo test runs near Birmingham, United Kingdom. “This week, the first of the company’s demonstrator vehicles has completed hydrogen fuelling at 700 bar pressure at the ITM/Motive site in Rainham, Essex,” wrote the company.

SunHydrogen has invested $10 million in TECO 2030, and will take one board position with the Norwegian technology developer. “As part of the investment, the two parties agree to further regulate their joint intention to pursue a potential business combination through which an up-listing of the investor on a US exchange will be explored,” said US-based SunHydrogen.

NeoGreen Portugal, a joint venture between Canada’s NeoGreen Hydrogen and Portugal’s Frequent Summer, have announced a €1.04 billion investment in a green hydrogen plant in Sines, Portugal, with an electrolysis capacity of more than 500 MW.

US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry and Ukrainian Minister of Energy German Galushchenko have announced a pilot project to demonstrate the production of clean hydrogen and ammonia by using a small modular nuclear reactor (SMR) and solid oxide electrolysis in Ukraine.