Standard Sized FC module for Heavy Duty applications

Topic description

Specific Challenge:

Hydrogen is considered to play an essential role in future zero-emissions Heavy Duty (HD) mobility. There is a growing consensus that (long haul) HD transport and HD stationary will be the key market for hydrogen Fuel Cells (FC) from the mid-2020s onwards. In addition, this transport sector struggles with the electrification of their portfolio. A large element is considered to be the consequence of theimpact on the production and supply chain, and the workshop and parts organisation. The complexity of the system as such is seen as too large of an obstacle.

Hydrogen has proven to be a serious alternative for (large) batteries, but TCO has to be reduced in order to reach a competitive level. Standard sized sub-systems are considered to be an important part of reaching this level of competitiveness. Standard sizes will improve reliability, parts availability, competition in the supply chain and above all a critical mass. These elements will also substantially lower the threshold for OEM’s and end users to adopt hydrogen as alternative for batteries.

The next step is real-world operation with heavy duty applications such as buses, trucks, trains, and ships in daily operation, all based upon the same technology and using the same supply chain to create a critical mass. Instead of demonstrating the technology, it is paramount to make FC applications economically feasible, by reaching ‘economy of scale’. This means FC system prices per kW and hydrogen prices per kg have to be reduced significantly by 3 to 5 times vs current levels. These figures are based on different TCO calculations (Euro/km or Euro/kg) which include all parameters (like operation and maintenance, lifetime etc.). To achieve 'economy of scale' with FC systems, they have to be standard sized and multi-purpose (not dedicated to only bus, truck or stationary). A standard size will be of benefit for the FC system supplier as well as for the FC system user. ‘Economy of Scale’ and ‘Fair Competition’ are the keywords for making hydrogen mobility economically feasible. In line with this, the challenge for this topic is based on three principles:

• Hydrogen FC + BoP within a standard sized module (AA-Battery principle);
• Hydrogen-Electric mobility for HD (> 3.5 ton) and long haul transport (off-road, rail, water). HD requires efficient, flexible, available, reliable, durable, robust and widely serviceable solutions (according to the defined KPI’s);
• Hydrogen-Electric mobility TCO comparable (max +30%) with non-zero emission HD TCO.

The standard for the size, connections, Application Programming Interface (API) protocol and general test procedures of this FC module “frame” should be defined. Depending on the different HD market legislations, different options on the FC module “cover” could be implemented. This definition should be done no later than the end of project month 12 with an associated go/no-go decision gate on the following development to which at least 7 FC suppliers should commit to make their FC conform to this standard as part of this go/no go decision milestone:

• At least 7 FC suppliers and 3 OEMs from at least two different HDV application sectors should participate in the standard definition process;
• The FC module should be around 30 to 100 kW net (max 1 stack power is 100-125 kW gross);
• The FC module should be specified so that it can be scaled up (as LEGO) to a minimum power level of 1 MW;
• The FC module should include at least the FC stack, the air supply system and the cooling/heating system without radiator;
• The maximum 3 standard mechanical size(s) should be equivalent to the common battery pack systems or the available space in the different HD applications. This should be done to make switching between full electric and FC applications more modular and cost effective;
• A minimum of 7 FC suppliers develop, build and commit their standard sized FC + BoP module according to the agreed standard (although FC stack development might be part of project, will not be considered within the scope of the topic and therefore not supported by funding).

These FCs should be tested by an independent organisation according to an agreed protocol; the FC modules should be validated, according to an agreed test protocol, as whole FC module to make technical comparison between the different FC module suppliers easier for the different HD customers, without infringing the FC module supplier’s Intellectual Property (IP). The testing should be done on an independent reference test device.

The scope should also include some essential and critical aspects:

• To define and specify together with the FC system suppliers and HD customers an International Standard module size, connections, API, test protocols and requirements for different HD applications;
• To define possible approaches on how to operate the modular systems in series/parallel up to a minimum of 1MW;
• To build standard sized FC modules from at least seven different FC suppliers (minimum five of them should be from EU);
• To develop and build a FC system reference test device for these modules, for testing on location and dynamically, by an independent organisation;
• To test the FC module(s) on the independent reference test device to get comparable/reproducible results and test the module also for durability purposes.

The ultimate goal is to go from relatively small FC suppliers, each with their own specific customers/markets to a global FC module market with a larger choice of different suppliers for a wide range of new HD applications. This ‘Standard sized FC-module’ will also lower the threshold for industries that have not yet considered hydrogen as an energy source (due to scale, limited R&D budgets etc.). The FC system should evolve from a High-Tech experimental product today to a common easy to integrate energy module in a wide range of HD applications tomorrow.

TRL at start of the project: 5 and TRL at the end of the project: 6-7.

Any safety-related event that may occur during execution of the project shall be reported to the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) dedicated mailbox JRC-PTT-H2SAFETY@ec.europa.eu , which manages the European hydrogen safety reference database, HIAD and the Hydrogen Event and Lessons LEarNed database, HELLEN. A draft safety plan at project level should be provided in the proposal and further updated during project implementation (deliverable to be reviewed by the European Hydrogen Safety Panel (EHSP)).

Activities developing test protocols and procedures for the performance and durability assessment of fuel cell components should foresee a collaboration mechanism with JRC (see section 3.2.B "Collaboration with JRC"), in order to support EU-wide harmonisation. Test activities should adopt the already published FCH 2 JU harmonized testing protocols to benchmark performance and quantify progress at programme level.

The maximum FCH 2 JU contribution that may be requested is EUR 7.5 million. This is an eligibility criterion – proposals requesting FCH 2 JU contributions above this amount will not be evaluated.

Expected duration: 3 years

The aim of the topic is to create a plug-and-play FC module that can take the ‘Hydrogen Economy’ out of the vicious circle and into 'Economy of Scale'. Some overall expected impacts could be:

• Economy of Scale (Stack and BoP) and Fair Competition (by reducing TCO);
• Expected increase in sales, markets and applications including easier logistics for parts and services;
• A standard sized module which will further optimize (simplify) the FC system design and manufacturability; investments in developments and automated production can be justified;
• Future technology improvements can be made and easily integrated without big changes on the application side (size and interfacing);
• The user application can be designed to the needed power by adding extra FC modules and without to be bounded to a specific FC system supplier;
• The FC module specifications can be described using agreed and validated test protocols;
• The FC module can be used as H2-Range Extender or as H2-Hybrid now or later as upgrade;
• When more than 1 FC module is used, availability through redundancy can be achieved; the plug-and-play requirement should reduce the operational downtime to a minimum by swopping units; specialists repair can be centralized.

As the maximum 3 standard size(s) and connections are to be defined:

• The FC module supplier and the HD customers can independently from each other develop their Zero Emission product/application;
• The HD customers can freely and easily switch between the FC module suppliers;
• No FC module supplier should need to share any of their IP; all the IP is inside their FC module:
  • Inside the module the FC system supplier will use its own IP while outside it is a standard sized plug-and-play module;
  • New developments and optimisation of the FC module can be done within these agreed specifications without changing the HD application itself.

Standard sized modules will contribute by the fact that developments will shift from technology into applications (based on modules and high volumes) and thus should accelerate the use of hydrogen, resulting also in the needed reduction of costs. The end goal is to make hydrogen for Heavy Duty applications economical viable without funding’s in the next 5-10 years.

The conditions related to this topic are provided in the chapter 3.3 of the FCH2 JU 2020 Annual Work Plan and in the General Annexes to the Horizon 2020 Work Programme 2018– 2020 which apply mutatis mutandis.