Game-changing hydrogen production with integrated CO₂ capture

Hydrogen has the potential to decarbonise electricity generation, transportation and heating. It can also play an important role in grid balancing, as the share of intermittent renewables such as solar and wind power increases in the global energy mix.

Conventional hydrogen production is based on steam reforming, in which hydrogen is extracted from natural gas. This is the lowest-cost hydrogen production process. The main problem with this process is that it leaves a substantial CO₂ footprint.

ZEG Power has developed a ground-breaking technology for hydrogen production which offers a solution to this problem through an enhanced and highly efficient reforming process with integrated CO₂ capture.

The technology enables production of high purity hydrogen from natural gas or biogas. The integrated and simultaneous CO₂ separation is carried out through a dual reactor system and by introducing a solid sorbent.

In brief: process input is natural gas and steam, and process output is pure hydrogen and CO₂. The CO₂ can then be pumped directly into CO₂ storage facilities or used as input in industry demanding high-quality CO₂.

ZEG Power’s technology is a result of close to 20 years of dedicated research backed by the Institute for Energy Technology (IFE), a world-leading Norwegian research institute in energy and materials technology.

Capturing CO₂ from hydrogen production is typically an expensive and energy-demanding process, involving several process steps. With ZEG Power’s technology, carbon capture is built into the gas reforming unit, significantly reducing the number of process steps and thus the cost of making clean, emission-free hydrogen.

ZEG Power’s method is one of the most efficient on the market.

The technology can also be integrated with fuel cells or turbines and the hydrogen used for electricity production.

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), the global hydrogen market was worth USD 115 billion in 2017, and is expected to grow exponentially in the years to come.

ZEG Power has already established a pilot plant that has verified and demonstrated the feasibility of the technology.

ZEG Power recently raised capital to build a first-of-a-kind industrial-scale hydrogen plant, with an estimated output of 30 kg of hydrogen per hour. The integrated and cost-competitive system will meet the growing demand for zero-emission hydrogen for both mobility and industrial applications. The first ZEG-H2 plant will be built at CCB Energy Park, adjacent to the planned Northern Lights large-scale CO₂ storage facility. Production of clean hydrogen may start as early as 2022.

Further, ZEG Power has planned an upscaling of the technology to 600 kg of hydrogen per hour.