Hyzon Motors and Raven SR to install 100 green hydrogen hubs
Hyzon Motors announced plans to enter into a joint venture with Raven SR to build waste-to-hydrogen hubs. Raven, a renewable fuels company, will help Hyzon to install 100 hubs across the US and globally, starting with two in California.
These hubs will rely on patented technology developed by Raven called a zero-combustion process. As part of the deal that has seen Hyzon sign an MoU so far, the company has also taken a minority stake in Raven.
Raven SR holds patents for its conversion process, which uses what the company calls a Steam/CO2 reformation process. It involves no combustion and avoids the creation of toxic pollutants and particulates. Raven claims it was still producing more hydrogen per ton of waste than competing processes and expects to “generate a carbon emissions profile that is superior to comparable waste-to-hydrogen technologies.”
Matt Murdock, CEO of Raven, added, the company had developed its combustion-free process over two decades. “Raven can also easily process natural and renewable gases alone or combined with solid waste. Most importantly, we are excited to roll out this leading technology with Hyzon, one of the fastest-growing hydrogen mobility companies in the industry.”
For the partnership at hand, Raven and Hyzon will set up two plants in California to start with, close to landfills. They expect each hub to produce enough hydrogen to power 30 heavy-duty trucks from only one garbage truck of waste to start with. The first hub is planned to be built in the San Francisco Bay Area and is expected to be commissioned in 2022.
In California, the hydrogen produced through Raven’s process will likely benefit from the state’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS), allowing Hyzon to sell hydrogen to third parties at “extremely competitive prices,” states the company. Hyzon Motors and Raven reckon the green hydrogen gained from converting organic waste “in almost any form” will come at a cost that compares to grey hydrogen (produced from fossil fuels).
At subsequent stages, a total of a hundred hubs are expected to process 50 tons of solid waste daily, per hub, and yield up to 4.5 tons of renewable green hydrogen each, enough hydrogen from each hub to power 100 heavy-duty commercial vehicles, according to Hyzon Motors. Future hubs may scale to five times larger to accommodate sites with higher hydrogen requirements, the company hopes.
The new partnership with Raven SR comes amidst a surge of activity. Just last week, Hyzon Motors announced the Hyzon Zero Carbon Alliance, of which Raven SR is a founding member, among other mighty players. The Zero Carbon Alliance’s core concept is to form a holistic hydrogen ecosystem, including producing and supplying green hydrogen.
Hyzon Motors also announced its IPO in February and reported an order from New Zealand for a total of 1,500 fuel cell trucks for Hiringa Energy, similarly a founding member of the Hyzon Zero Carbon Alliance.
For customers in the European Union, the company has recently launched a leasing service for heavy-duty fuel cell commercial vehicles. Hyzon plans to deliver “hundreds of heavy-duty fuel cell vehicles” in Europe by the end of 2021 and opened its European headquarters in Groningen in July 2020. Production began in April 2021. The company also counts Total among its investors.
Hyzon Motors started operations in March 2020 as a new standalone business born from Horizon Fuel Cell which is also led by Hyzon co-founders George Gu, Craig Knight and Gary Robb. Hyzon Motors is commercializing Horizon’s 17 years of hydrogen technology development for the transport sector.
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