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Among other announcements, the U.S. Department of Energy has awarded financing to a consortium of public, private, and academic experts to demonstrate a large-scale liquid hydrogen LH2 tank, a new hydrogen strategy has been unveiled by Australia’s New South Wales (NSW) state government, and Repsol and EDP have teamed up to assess new investment opportunities in renewable hydrogen projects across the Iberian Peninsula.

A consortium of public, private, and academic experts led by Shell International Exploration and Production has been selected by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office to demonstrate a large-scale liquid hydrogen LH₂ tank with a capacity ranging from 20,000 to 100,000 cubic meters. “The DOE has awarded US$6 million to finance the project, and Shell and CB&I Storage Solutions will both provide an additional $3 million each, for a total project fund of $12 million,” reads the announcement made on Wednesday. The group also committed to building a scaled-down demonstration tank that will be tested to validate the feasibility of the design.

The National petroleum investment company of Oman OQ, Tokyo-based general trading company Marubeni Corporation, German multinational chemical company Linde and Dubai-based conglomerate Dutco have signed a Joint Development Agreement (JDA) to build a green hydrogen and green ammonia project at the Salalah Free Zone (SFZ) in Oman. “The project, named SalalaH2, targets the production of up to 1,000 tons per day of green ammonia, utilizing OQ’s existing ammonia plant in Salalah. An electrolysis facility with a capacity of up to 400 MW will be constructed to produce green hydrogen. Approximately 1 GW of solar and wind energy, produced either by existing or new facilities, will be used to power the electrolyzer,” Oman News Agency wrote on Wednesday.

Australia’s New South Wales (NSW) state government wants to support industry to rapidly achieve scale and increase the competitiveness of hydrogen against existing emissions-intensive fuels and technologies, according to its hydrogen strategy published this week. “By 2030, we aim to be producing 110,000 tonnes of green hydrogen per annum from 700 MW of electrolyser capacity for under $AU2.80 per kg [€1.79 per kg],” it wrote. The strategy provides up to $3 billion (€1.92 billion) of incentives to commercialize hydrogen supply chains to “reduce the cost of green hydrogen by an estimated $5.80 per kg (€3.71 per kg).” 2030 targets include 700 MW of electrolyzer capacity, 10,000 hydrogen vehicles, and 12 GW of renewable energy capacity.

The Hydrogen Heavy Duty Vehicle Industry Group, which comprises Air Liquide, Hyundai, Nel Hydrogen, Nikola Corporation, Shell, and Toyota, signed agreements with Tatsuno Corporation and Transfer Oil to industrialize 70 MPa hydrogen heavy-duty vehicle high-flow (H70HF) fueling hardware components. “Tatsuno, an international hydrogen fuel equipment provider … is designing and developing vehicle receptacle and dispenser nozzle and breakaway components, whereas Transfer Oil, considered one of the most valued manufacturers of reinforced thermoplastic hoses in the industry, is leading the design and development of a hydrogen dispenser fueling hose,” Hyundai wrote last week. Testing is scheduled to commence in Q4 2021, with preliminary performance and safety results available in Q1 2022. “Together with other industry players, Nikola is pushing the development and introduction of the new H70HF standard. The development of this hardware is an integral part to enable projected fueling times competitive to diesel fueling times,” said Christian Appel, Nikola Global Chief Engineer.

France-based Hyvia, a joint venture between Renault and U.S. hydrogen solutions company Plug Power, unveiled its first two hydrogen prototypes on Thursday: the Renault Master Van H2-TECH and the Hydrogen Refuelling Station prototype. The van for transporting should be available in 2022. “Master Van H2-TECH is equipped with a 30kW fuel cell, a 33kWh battery and tanks containing 6kg of hydrogen (4 tanks of 1,5 kg),” the French company wrote on Thursday. The zero-emission Renault Master Van is equipped with a fuel cell engine, based on Plug Power’s ProGen technology platform. “The Renault Master Van is a true game-changer and will serve a diverse array of industries throughout our ecosystem that need powerful, clean and efficient hydrogen mobility solutions,” Andy Marsh, CEO for Plug Power, commented in a separate press release on Thursday. The second prototype, the refueling stating, allows fast fueling time (five minutes). Hyvia said it would also soon announce two new prototypes: a large van with 19m³ cargo space and an urban minibus for up to 15 passengers.

Universal Hydrogen, the U.S.-based company focused on hydrogen aviation, has executed a letter of intent with ASL Aviation Holdings, an aviation services group based in Dublin. “ASL will be a global launch customer for the turboprop cargo market and plans to purchase up to ten of Universal Hydrogen’s ATR 72 conversion kits for installation into its existing or future turboprop aircraft fleet,” the company wrote on Tuesday. On Thursday, Universal Hydrogen then announced a funding round yielding $62 million in new capital (€53.5 million). “New investors in the round include Mitsubishi HC Capital, Tencent, Stratos, GE Aviation, Waltzing Matilda Aviation, Fourth Realm, Hawktail, Marc Benioff’s TIME Ventures, Jeff Wilke, and Spencer Rascoff’s 75 and Sunny Ventures,” reads a separate press release. Last month, the company announced it will locate its second engineering and design center in Toulouse, France, Europe’s leading city for aviation manufacturing and innovation.

French multinational company Air Liquide and French automotive supplier Faurecia have signed a joint development agreement to design and produce on-board liquid hydrogen storage systems for the automotive industry. “Teaming up these two complementary hydrogen specialists will enable the development of cutting-edge liquid hydrogen storage technologies for heavy mobility with a rapid time-to-market,” Patrick Koller, Chief Executive Officer of Faurecia, commented on Tuesday.

Spain’s oil and gas major Repsol and Portugal’s EDP, one of the largest producers of renewable energy in the world, teamed up to assess new investment opportunities in renewable hydrogen projects across the Iberian Peninsula. The agreement singles out three potential projects for further assessment: two in Spain and one in Portugal. EDP heads the Aboño project, which aims to create a ‘Hydrogen Valley’ in Asturias, whereas Repsol leads the project in the Basque Country, as part of the ‘Basque Hydrogen Corridor’ project. The project in Portugal is looking to produce green hydrogen in Sines. “Repsol aims to lead renewable hydrogen production in the Iberian Peninsula and play a leading role in Europe with the target of having an equivalent capacity of 552 MW by 2025 and 1.9 GW by 2030,” reads the press release published on Thursday. The Spanish company also presented its hydrogen strategy up to 2030. “The company has announced investments in the entire hydrogen value chain that will reach €2.549 billion by 2030,” reads a separate announcement, adding that the company will resort to different technologies, including electrolysis, biogas production, and photoelectrocatalysis.

U.K.-based integrated hydrogen energy solutions provider ITM Power has raised £250 million (€295,1 million) to expand its manufacturing capacity to 5GW per annum by 2024. “The New Shares being issued represent approximately 11.4 per cent of the existing issued ordinary share capital of the Company prior to the Capital Raise,” the company wrote on Friday. It wants to develop two additional electrolyzer manufacturing facilities. The capital raise is conditional on shareholder approval, which should come at a general meeting to be held on November 3. According to the Financial Times, the company will build a bigger factory next to its plant near Sheffield, and a second in an unidentified international market. ITM opened the factory in January, calling it the “world’s largest electrolyzer factory.”