Convion is aiming to commercialize industrial-scale electrolysers. The technology company, which demerged from Wärtsilä in 2013, has launched a project to create a solid oxide electrolyser (SOE) that can be scaled up for industrial use.

The basic idea is to use fuel cells in reverse mode: the cells are normally used for electricity production but, in this solution, they are used to generate hydrogen through electrolysis.

"Normally, gas is fed into fuel cells to generate electricity. Now, we use the same technology but in reverse. We feed in steam, extract oxygen and hydrogen using electricity and capture the hydrogen to be used as raw material for renewable fuels," said Convion CEO Erkko Fontell.

Convion’s SOE solution is based on the Convion C60 fuel cell system. First experimental results are expected in 2022.

The bulk of the price of hydrogen is made up of energy costs, which means that the efficiency of the hydrogen-generating process is critical to creating a cost-effective solution. The SOE system operating at high temperature has an efficiency of over 80%, which means it is up to 30% more efficient than, for example, PEM or alkaline electrolysis technologies.

The Convion SOE project is independent and runs in parallel with the E-Fuel project by the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland. However, the E-Fuel and Convion SOE projects have many commonalities, and one could not exist without the other. The Convion SOE project’s device concept is tested within the E-Fuel project and, most importantly, the projects share a common value chain.

The E-Fuel project is the first project in Neste's Veturi partner program. The Veturi research program and its ecosystem aims to develop new solutions that reduce crude oil consumption.