Cidetec furthers its pioneering commitment to green hydrogen with battery development.
Cidetec, the technology centre based in San Sebastián, has long considered green hydrogen as a relevant fuel. Throughout the 25 years since it was first founded, the centre has conducted intense research that nowadays position it at the forefront of Europe, anticipating highly significant advances in these technologies in the industrial field and focusing its lines of research on batteries.
The technology centre has gone beyond the initial stage of hydrogen fuel cell research and taken a step further to focus on batteries. The cutting-edge nature of this research centre in Gipuzkoa is manifest in its participation in many initiatives which, both at a Basque and European level, are being worked on to deepen understanding of this energy carrier.
Two key initiatives in this respect are SHYNE, a state platform promoted by Repsol that brings together companies and research organisations to promote the new hydrogen economy and, closer to home, the Basque Hydrogen Corridor, with the same objective in the Basque Country.
Cidetec's concerns are focused on the area of green hydrogen production systems, its storage and transport. With respect to green hydrogen production, Cidetec is leading a European project to replace platinum with nickel in coatings.
As regards storage, the technology centre's line of research is focused on identifying resin-based and/or recyclable materials with which to obtain lighter tanks with an increased capacity to contain a greater volume of green hydrogen.
In relation to transport and distribution, the head of the surface engineering area explains that the interaction of hydrogen with certain materials can lead to severe damage to pipe walls. Cidetec is working on developing coatings that serve as a barrier between the hydrogen and the pipe to prevent this.
