Gen-Hy is a French company developing anion exchange membranes (AEM).
History of Gen-Hy
Gen-Hy is a subsidiary of FlexFuel Energy Development, an engine descaling company using hydrogen injection. It was launched on April 8, 2019, following 5 years of research in partnership with French laboratories and the support of the DGA (Direction Générale de l’Armement). This program, Hy Motor, enabled this descaling technology to be applied to high-power ship engines.
The company is headed by Sebastien Le Pollès.
A first production unit worth 2.5 million euros, capable of producing up to 480m² of membranes per year, as well as “stacks” (sets of membranes and electrodes).
In May 2022, the company announced that it would invest 15 million euros in an 8,000m² plant in Montbéliard in the Doubs region of France. This will produce complete electrolyzers from 50kW to 4MW, making it the 5th largest French producer after McPhy, Elogen, John Cockerill and Genvia. Subsidy applications are underway.
Gen-Hy anion exchange membranes
Anion exchange membrane technology consists in producing hydrogen by electrolysis of water using a potash solution, which soaks a gas-tight membrane. This electrolyte enables
Their performance is said to reach over 85%, or 4.25kWh per Nm3 of H2 produced, without consuming rare metals.
[Caveat: from what I’ve read, the yields of low-temperature electrolysis, PEM or alkaline, are rather around 55-60%, and the scientific article I read presents AEM technology as less efficient than the latter. So this rate seems to be worth checking]
He plans to bring the price of hydrogen down to between 4 and 7 euros per kilogram.
Products marketed by Gen-Hy: Hy-Cube
Gen-Hy not only markets its membranes, but also modular production units in the form of containers: the Hy-Cube. The 20-foot-long model could produce 210kg of hydrogen per day, rising to 270kg with an option.
[The HY-CUBE® system is capable of producing up to 30 megawatts of highly pure hydrogen gas annually mW is a unit of power, not a volume of production or a quantity of energy]
The whole process would be coordinated by software developed by Ineris.