Sunfire will industrialize two hydrogen production technologies: alkaline and solid oxide electrolyzers

Green Light for Sunfire

Dresden, July 1, 2022

Under the "Important Projects of Common European Interest (IPCEI)" Sunfire is to receive grant funding for industrializing its hydrogen technologies. The electrolysis specialist is one of the first companies to be granted an early start to measure.

July 1, 2022, Dresden – Faster, more innovative, more comprehensive: To put its major industrial scale-up plans for alkaline and solid oxide (SOEC) electrolyzers into action, Sunfire has applied for IPCEI funding. Now, the company has taken a major step in the ongoing approval procedure: The German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action has granted an early start to measure.

Robert Habeck, German Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, says: "The major joint European hydrogen project is picking up speed. This is great news! By creating the conditions for an early start to measure, Sunfire can now get started as one of the first companies. This is a strong signal. We need to accelerate the ramp-up of the hydrogen economy – especially now in difficult times. We need promising projects along the entire value chain. The industrialization of electrolyzer production is an essential building block."

"Being granted an early start to measure is a very important signal for us", Sunfire CFO Stephan Garabet comments on the news from Berlin. "It underlines the central role Sunfire plays for the scale-up of the European green hydrogen industry. The funding will allow us to scale much faster, more innovatively and more extensively than we could with our own resources."

Green hydrogen is the answer to many of the most pressing questions of our time: It is key to decarbonize energy-intensive industries. And it is pivotal for increasing energy security in Europe.

With industry demand for green hydrogen greater than ever, the European Union aims to expand the hydrogen sector with the help of public funding. In May 2021, the Sunfire project proposal was selected for IPCEI funding by the German Federal Government. The EU Commission's binding approval is still pending within the next weeks.

At the beginning of the year, the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research had already committed funding of EUR 60 million through the flagship project H2Giga. "Both are closely connected," explains Stephan Garabet. "Together with our project partners, we are preparing the series production of our electrolyzers on the development side within the framework of H2Giga. The next step is to produce and apply the technologies on industrial scale with the help of IPCEI."

Image: © XENON