Next Hydrogen Solutions, a designer and manufacturer of electrolyzers, has been awarded a contract by the University of Minnesota (UMN) for its latest generation electrolysis technology to be installed at the UMN West Central Research and Outreach Center (WCROC).

The WCROC project is supported by the US Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Project Agency (ARPA-E) as well as other partners including RTI International (RTI) and will include technologies from Casale, RTI and UMN to demonstrate the production of ammonia from renewable energy targeting emerging energy markets and existing agricultural markets.

Next Hydrogen will be supplying its latest third-generation Alkaline Water Electrolyzers featuring improvements in energy efficiency, current density and operating pressure. Next Hydrogen electrolyzers provide complete and responsive renewable energy load following capability needed to produce hydrogen from intermittent energy sources such as wind and solar. The system is scheduled to be operational in 2025.

The project team also includes Nutrien, GE, Nel Hydrogen, Xcel Energy, Great River Energy, Otter Tail Power Company, Runestone Electric Association, Chemtronergy, Texas Tech University, Pacifica, the Agricultural Utilization Research Institute (AURI) and Shell.

Next Hydrogen’s cell design architecture supported by 40 patents enables high current density operations and superior dynamic response to convert intermittent renewable electricity into green hydrogen on an infrastructure scale efficiently.

Following successful pilots, Next Hydrogen is scaling up its technology to deliver commercial solutions to decarbonize transportation and industrial sectors.