LEWIS CENTER, Ohio – March 15, 2024 — Nexceris (also known as NexTech Materials), a green energy company in central Ohio, received a $30-million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to scale up production of its electrolysis stack technology.
It is part of $750 million in DOE funding for 52 projects across 24 states to reduce the cost of clean hydrogen and reinforce American leadership in the growing hydrogen industry. These projects will advance electrolysis technologies and improve manufacturing and recycling capabilities for clean hydrogen systems and components.
Nexceris submitted a project under Topic 1: Low-cost, High-Throughput Electrolyzer Manufacturing. Its “Scaleup and Demonstration of High-Temperature Electrolysis Technology” project will develop automated solid oxide electrolyzer stack manufacturing processes to increase throughput and reduce costs. Project partners include the Georgia Institute of Technology, Strategic Analysis, Inc., Idaho National Laboratory, Czero, Inc., the University of Connecticut, Clark Atlanta University, Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, and Current Chemicals.
“The goal of this project is to increase our manufacturing capacity 10-fold and reduce our production costs,” said Geoff Merchant, Director of the Nexceris Electrolysis business. “There is an enormous need for electrolyzers in the market to support the energy transition. Our technology provides a significant efficiency improvement when compared to the incumbent technologies. This funding will allow us to provide stacks to this growing market. This is a huge opportunity for Nexceris. It has the potential to grow and transform our organization while positively impacting the US energy landscape.”
This announcement represents the first phase of implementation of two provisions of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which authorizes $1 billion for research, development, demonstration, and deployment (RDD&D) activities to reduce the cost of clean hydrogen produced via electrolysis and $500 million for research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) of improved processes and technologies for manufacturing and recycling clean hydrogen systems and materials. These projects will directly produce more than 1,500 new jobs and thousands of additional jobs indirectly generated through regional economic activity. Additionally, these projects will provide support to 32 disadvantaged communities.
In total, the Topic 1 projects received $316 million in funding, the most of any of the other five topics. The eight selected projects will conduct RD&D to enable greater economies of scale through electrolyzer manufacturing innovations, including automated manufacturing processes, design for processability and scale-up, advanced quality control methods, reduced critical mineral loadings, and design for end-of-life recovery and recyclability.
Together with the Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs, tax incentives in the President’s historic Inflation Reduction Act, and ongoing research, development, and demonstration in the DOE Hydrogen Program, these investments will help DOE achieve its ambitious Hydrogen Shot goal of reducing the cost of producing clean hydrogen to $1 per kilogram. These projects will also support the long-term viability of the H2Hubs and other emerging commercial-scale deployments by helping solve the underlying technical barriers to cost reduction that scale alone can’t overcome.
Nexceris Electrolysis
Nexceris Electrolysis provides highly efficient electrolysis stacks that produce green hydrogen and syngas. Nexceris brings 30 years of expertise in solid oxide technology and materials development. In addition to high-temperature electrolysis (SOEC), Nexceris also offers fuel cell (SOFC) stack technology for power generation and reversible operation (rSOFC) for grid support applications.