Convion and Elcogen announced the successful conclusion of a groundbreaking field test for an industrial scale solid oxide electrolyzer system delivering green H₂ at superior efficiency compared to incumbent technologies.

Convion, in collaboration with its partner Elcogen, have concluded a test period of 2000 hours of the first-of-a-kind Convion solid oxide electrolyzer equipped with Elcogen’s cell technology last week, validating superb performance and good operability. The test campaign included both steady state operation as well as 1000 rapid power cycles. System performance was very high with electrical efficiency over 85%, equating to 39 kWhr of electrical energy per kilogram of green H₂ produced. In the context of electrolysis, that is 20%–30% less electricity when compared with competing PEM and alkaline technologies.

The steam electrolyzer is based on Elcogen’s solid oxide cell and stack technology implemented in Convion’s steam electrolyzer system platform. The system was developed in record time based on Convion’s experience in developing solid oxide fuel cell systems.

The electrolyzer was delivered and commissioned to a VTT test site in June 2023 where it was tested as part of a VTT coordinated and Business Finland funded eFuel project. The electrolyzer delivered green H₂ for a synthetic fuel demonstrator, where the final product was renewable diesel.

Kim Åström, the CTO of Convion said, “We are extremely happy that the test campaign has demonstrated excellent operability, flexibility and resilience to the fluctuations in the steam supply, and validated superb efficiency as designed. These test results give us confidence that our platform approach for electrolysis is well suited for large, industrial-scale applications for electrolysis and bi-directional rSOC systems.”

Martin Rasmussen, the CTO of Elcogen said, “We are pleased that these excellent results are there as a result of our ultimate and efficient core technology being integrated inside Convion’s electrolyzers. We are thrilled for the future and remain passionate in delivering our market leading products to be a leader in the transition away from fossil fuels.”

The project brought together a group of companies across the entire value chain from sequestration of CO₂ to electricity and fuel production, logistics, as well as users of the transport fuels in different segments of transport: solid oxide electrolyzer (SOEC) by Convion system with Elcogen stack technology, Fischer-Tropsch synthesis (FT, by Ineratec and VTT technology and catalysts), and water-based CO₂ capture (by CarbonReUse Finland and Andritz technology).