Innovative process for hydrogen production on its way to market launch
- Start-up Green Hydrogen Technology produces green hydrogen from sewage sludge, plastic and wood waste
- Industrial-scale pilot plant starts operation
- Managing director Harald Mayer: “With our technology, green hydrogen can be hydrogen can be produced cost-effectively on site and marketed marketed competitively”
Augsburg, November 07, 2022 – Green Hydrogen Technology GmbH (GHT) is taking a further step in the market launch of its innovative technology for the production of green hydrogen. The company commissioned a pilot plant in Leoben, Austria, at the end of October to test the production process on an industrial scale. GHT’s planned plants are each designed to have an annual production capacity of up to 5,000 metric tons of hydrogen. They thus significantly exceed the capacity of current operating facilities.
Founded in 2020, the company has developed a process that uses sewage sludge, plastic and wood waste to produce green hydrogen on an industrial scale. The patented technology for regional, climate-neutral production of the sought-after energy carrier has already been scientifically validated. The production process for processing hydrogen from wood waste was tested by TÜV Süd in August 2022. The process thus meets the requirements for certification.
“With our technology, we can produce hydrogen from waste in a 100 percent climate-friendly way. This means that green hydrogen can be produced extremely cost-effectively on site and marketed competitively. This is a breakthrough for the municipal sector, which usually has sewage sludge or plastic waste at its disposal, but also for energy suppliers or industrial companies with high energy requirements that want to source green hydrogen,” says Harald Mayer, CEO and co-founder of Green Hydrogen Technology. The company is currently talking to investors in preparation for a first round of financing.
The three-phase process developed by GHT produces hydrogen without the use of fossil fuels. In the first phase, hot gas is produced by burning biogas or sewage sludge, to which plastic or wood waste is added in the second phase for thermal utilization. The resulting hydrogen is processed into green hydrogen with an efficiency of 99.9 percent in the final third phase. Production in decentralized plants relies on raw materials that are available free of charge or even have a negative price. The GHT technology thus allows the production of green hydrogen at production costs of two euros per kilogram. In addition, the process solves pending waste disposal tasks. From 2029, for example, landfilling sewage sludge will only be possible if the phosphorus it contains is recovered first. The GHT technology not only uses sewage sludge as a fuel, but also separates the phosphorus it contains.
The decentralized generation of a climate-neutral energy source combined with climate-neutral disposal makes the GHT process attractive to municipal companies, among others. They can fulfill their waste disposal mandate and at the same time have green hydrogen for CO2-neutral operation of local public transport without the need for costly infrastructure.