Shell has asked Ceres, a UK company, to create a new type of equipment to make green hydrogen cheaper

This equipment, called a 10MW pressurized solid oxide electrolyser (SOE), will be used in industries that need a lot of heat, like making ammonia, synthetic fuels, and green steel.

Solid oxide electrolysers are very good at using electricity to make hydrogen, better than other types like alkaline and PEM electrolysers. They need high temperatures (500-850°C) to work well, so it's best to put them where there's already a lot of heat.

Ceres says their current SOE design makes 25% more hydrogen per kilowatt-hour of electricity compared to other equipment, using less than 40kWh to make one kilogram of hydrogen. For Shell, Ceres wants to make an even better SOE that uses less than 36kWh per kilogram, which would be 30% more efficient. Pressurizing the SOE should make it even better, saving 1-2kWh per kilogram.

There is strong competition in the SOE market. Companies like Topsoe, Elcogen, Bloom Energy, and Sunfire have efficient SOEs, with some needing as little as 33kWh to produce one kilogram of hydrogen. Other electrolysers, like alkaline and PEM, are considered efficient if they use 50kWh, though companies are working to lower this.

Ceres is already testing a 1MW SOE at Shell's lab in Bangalore, India, to gather data for the new design. They are also working with Canadian company AtkinsRéalis to design a big SOE system with more than 100MW capacity for future projects.