Perth-based hydrogen storage startup Carbon280 has announced the successful raise of $7.6 million to fund a pilot of the Hydrilyte hydrogen storage system which Carbon 280 has an exclusive license.
Global energy company Woodside and Hive Energy, a leading UK green energy developer, participated in the funding round.
The news follows a trial funded by the UK government, which we announced earlier in the year.
Hydrogen is useful across many industry sectors. It removes the intermittency from renewable generation, fuelling vehicles too large for current battery technologies and is a feedstock for many industrial and chemical processes.
However, while a kilogram of hydrogen contains three times the energy of a kilogram of diesel, it takes up to 11 cubic metres of space at sea level, compared to just over a litre of diesel, making it hard to both store and transport.
Hydrilyte, a metal hydride dust suspending in a liquid, is a new technology being used to store hydrogen. The mixture is stable at atmospheric conditions and is safe to handle. As a result of being a liquid, it can be stored and transported using existing liquid fuels infrastructure, allowing of r a rapid scale-up of the product.
Hydrilyte is made from raw materials that are inexpensive. The pilot will seek to demonstrate the product’s ability to store and release hydrogen in a safe and economic manner.
“We are delighted to have landed world-class investors for whom the Hydrilyte technology is a strategic addition to their hydrogen plans and proposed projects,” said Mark Rheinlander, founder and CEO of Carbon280.
Woodside’s experience with LNG scale engineering and access to global energy markets, combined with Hive’s growing portfolio of international renewable hydrogen projects, will enable Carbon280 to seek to expand Hydrilyte hydrogen storage globally.
Mark Rheinlander
