Sunfire is building a test facility at the BASF site in Schwarzheide to validate its high-temperature electrolysis (Solid Oxide Electrolyzer Cell, SOEC). According to the company, commissioning is scheduled for the end of this year. With the facility, Sunfire aims to gain further experience for the use of the technology in large-scale industrial projects.
The operator of the Lausitz Industrial Park is BASF InfraService & Solutions Lausitz, a subsidiary of the chemical group with more than 900 employees. "With Sunfire, the Lausitz Industrial Park gains a globally leading hydrogen company that actively shapes the energy transition," says Jürgen Fuchs, Chairman of the Management Board of BASF InfraService & Solutions Lausitz.
Efficiency up to 89 percent targetedThe SOEC technology operates at operating temperatures of around 850 degrees Celsius. Sunfire indicates an expected efficiency of up to 89 percent LHV (AC) for the third generation of its SOEC electrolyzers. In the EU-funded project GrInHy2.0, the company demonstrated an efficiency of 84 percent LHV (AC) with the first generation in 2022. Higher efficiencies are expected to lead to lower levelized costs of hydrogen (LCOH).
"High-temperature electrolysis offers energy-intensive industries enormous efficiency advantages for decarbonization," says Christian von Olshausen, CTO of Sunfire. The infrastructure and industrial expertise at the site enable long-term tests on an industrial scale.
Funding through H2Giga and IPCEIAccording to Sunfire, the technology used in Schwarzheide was further developed as part of the lead project H2Giga, funded by the Federal Ministry for Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR), in the subproject HTEL Module. The test facility is intended to ensure technological maturity for large-scale applications within the framework of the Important Project of Common European Interest (IPCEI). The European Investment Bank is co-financing the industrialization of SOEC electrolyzers with a loan.
Sunfire develops and produces electrolyzers based on both alkaline (AEL) and solid oxide technology (SOEC) and employs more than 700 people in Germany according to its own information.
