Let the inventions of today be the foundations of tomorrow!

The past year and a half has been an incredible ride. I met Sebastian-Justus Schmidt a good 2.5 years ago when he told me about a hydrogen adventure he was going on. He asked me if I could help “do things a bit differently in the hydrogen business”. At first, I didn’t understand but when I came to Pisa and saw, I was hooked right away.

The spirit at Enapter is one of a kind - the team is incredibly brilliant and driven. Based on impactful inventions in the early 2010s, the Enapter team created a truly modular electrolyser in just a year after being founded. What might sound like a catch-phrase in this case really isn’t. In our industry, the trend is “big is beautiful”. Electrolyser manufacturers are pursuing the scaling of green hydrogen production by making larger electrolysers. What we do differently is that we are aiming to drive down cost by building a modular commodity – an electrolyser that can be mass-produced and become the cornerstone for the future of fuel and gas production. This modular and easy to integrate “microwave-sized” device fits into any system setup. Hardware and software are tightly knit - a completely integrated concept. Such a modular hydrogen well will produce gas in refuelling stations, energy storage systems, Power-to-Gas applications, and is optimal for industrial use - it is absolutely universal!

Just a year after we presented the first generation of the modular electrolyser, we are very proud to show our latest invention in Japan today: the EL 2.1! It is making a leap in efficiency and is 8 per cent more efficient than the predecessor – for context, we are almost achieving the Japanese efficiency goals for electrolysers 10 years ahead of schedule!* The new electrolyser also innovates with a better form factor and reduced space requirement in a standard rack by 20%. Utilizing our native software allows for seamless setup and easy maintenance (find here the press release and datasheet). We are very excited about this as you can possibly tell! 😊 

However, it is just another small step. If we want to get a grip on climate change we need to make our modular electrolysers as ubiquitous as microwaves or washing machines to replace fossil fuels. We are convinced that the future of fuels will look very different from the present. I am convinced we will see a resilient and more distributed green fuel supply structure. Currently, we are scouting for a location where we will start the mass production of (most likely the next or even 4th generation) our electrolysers to make this happen.

Stay tuned… 

*METI is expecting that electrolyser efficiency will improve significantly by 2030. METI’s goal is to produce one cubic metre of hydrogen with 4.3 kilowatt hours by 2030. The EL 2.1 uses 4.4 kilowatt hours today. (Meti)