HyET Hydrogen

Netherlands-based HyET Hydrogen (HyET) offers electrochemical-based hydrogen purification and compression solutions. Hydrogen is supplied to the anode side of a proton exchange membrane (PEM) where a platinum alloy catalyst splits the molecule into protons. An external current forces the protons through the membrane and they are recombined as compressed hydrogen molecules on the cathode side at a pressure of around 900–1,000 bar.

HyET’s compressors consist of a series of compression cells, each acting as an individual compressor, combined to form a compression stack. As of February 2024, HyET was producing compression stacks with a capacity ranging from 2 kg/day to 2000 kg/day. To achieve higher volumes, multiple stacks can be installed in parallel, enabled by the modular scalability of HyET’s technology. Each stack operating individually also provides a high level of redundancy, as the malfunctioning of one stack would only affect a small part of the system. HyET claims that the capital cost requirement for its electrochemical compression technology is around 5x–7x lower than a conventional mechanical compressor, while the operating cost is also 2x–3x lower.

Additionally, the PEM membrane is only permeable to hydrogen protons and acts as a barrier to other components, allowing pure hydrogen to be extracted from gaseous mixtures containing nitrogen, methane, water vapor, etc., with less than 10% hydrogen concentration. This makes it possible to purify hydrogen from gas streams from waste hydrogen emitters such as the petrochemical industry, ammonia production, steel production, and semiconductor manufacturing.

In October 2021, Australia-based Fortescue Future Industries (FFI) acquired a 60% stake in the HyET Group, which includes HyET Solar and HyET Hydrogen. The acquisition supports FFI’s vision to produce affordable green hydrogen with the goal of delivering 15 million tons of green hydrogen globally by 2030.

Key customers and partnerships

Since 2015, HyET has been executing small-scale hydrogen compression and purification projects for customers and partners such as ITM Power (UK), Shell (Netherlands), Naval Research Laboratory (US), and HyGear (Netherlands).

In December 2023, HyET partnered with Baker Hughes, an energy technology company, to combine their compression technologies. In May 2023, the company partnered with ENPRO Industries (India), a provider of mechanical fluid systems, process equipment, and renewable project solutions, to collaborate on electrochemical hydrogen processing technologies. In December 2020, HyET partnered with H2H Energy, an Australian hydrogen consultancy company, to explore hydrogen projects in Australia and New Zealand. HyET is also a part of several EU-funded research projects.

Funding and financials

HyET’s investors include Shell Technology Ventures and Anglo American Platinum.