New technology can make green hydrogen more competitive. Enova supports Hystar's technology with NOK 38.2 million.

-We must cut emissions and create jobs. Hystar stands for an exciting and innovative solution built on many years of research. Hydrogen will play an important role in the green shift. But first we are completely dependent on reducing production costs. Hystar's plans can therefore be of great importance in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, says Minister of Climate and Environment, Espen Barth Eide (Labor Party).

The project will demonstrate Hystar's technology under relevant operating conditions. This is neccessary for further commercialization of the technology.

-Hystar has developed an unique, patented PEM electrolysis technology that provides significant cost reductions for the production of green hydrogen. In collaboration with SINTEF, Hystar's technology has been verified over severaL thousand hours of testing. Pilot testing of a complete 1 MW plant at Kårstø is the next step on the road to a large-scale commercialization of Hystars's products. The support from Enova has been extremely important in this context in additon to Equinor's and Gassco's contribution of knowledge and resources to the project.. We look forward to the implementatioon of the project that will contribute to accelerated use of green hydrogen on a large scale, says CEO of Hystar, Fredrik Mowill.

From left: The Norwegian Minister of Climate and Environment, Espen Barth Eide, CPO Magnus Thomassen at Hystar, CEO Fredrik Mowill at Hystar and CEO at Enova, Nils Kristian Nakstad. (Photo: Hystar)

Important for the development of green hydrogen

Enova is a driving force for Norway to reach the climate goals for 2050. Enova does this by supporting those who are at the very forefront of the development of new technology.

-Emission-free hydrogen is most likely one of several climate solutions for 2050. But there is still room for technology development in order to make emission-free hydrogen more competitive with fossil-based alternatives. Hystar has a completely new technology for the production of green hydrogen that is not on the market today and which can contribute to significant cost reductions, says CEO of Enova, Nils Kristian Nakstad, and continues:

-But in order for this technology to be commercially available, both technological and commercial barriers must be overcome. Through the pilotage support, Enova relieves the technological risk in the project. A solid collaboration ensures commercial relevance and the project could be important for the development of green hydrogen, says Nakstad. 

The groundwork for Hystar's work has been done at SINTEF in Trondheim. From left: research engineer Firdaus Hendricks and CTO and co-founder Alejandro Barnett. (Photo: Enova)

Reduces energy consumptions

Green hydrogen is made by electrolysis, the splitting of water into hydrogen and oxygen using renewable eletricity. About 70 per cent of the cost of producing green hydrogen comes from the purchase of electricity.

Hystar's technology is unique in that it utilizes significantly thinner membranes than those used by other PEM suppliers. This provides increased efficiency which reduces energy consumptions by about 10 percent.

Equinor and Gassco are participating in this project as end users of the electrolysis technology. The operating conditions will be selected based on Equinor's and Gassco's requirement, in order to create high relevance for future projects within hydrogen production.

- Cheaper, emission-free hydrogen will, for example, contribute to hydrogen being more easily introduced  as a fossil-free input factor in industrial processes and as emission-free fuel in heavy transport and maritime applications. The technical potential for emission reductions from hydrogen is large, but in order to realize this potential, the cost of hydrogen must be reduced, says Nakstad.

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Hystar AS

Founded in 2020 as a spin-off from the Norwegian research institute, SINTEF, Hystar makes highly efficient PEM electrolysers for large-scale production of green hydrogen. With their patented technology, they are focused on playing a key role in a greener, mpore sustaible future. Key investors are SINTEF Venture, AP Ventures and Firda.