Nanofilm-Temasek JV to focus on tech for fuelling cars with hydrogen

Singapore

HYDROGEN-POWERED cars have not attained the mainstream acceptance of electric vehicles that run on batteries, but Sydrogen Energy thinks this situation could change within several years. The company, a joint venture (JV) between Mainboard-listed Nanofilm Technologies and Temasek, is planning to be a part of the shift.

Sydrogen is working on technology to improve the efficiency of hydrogen fuel cells for cars.

These fuel cells are the equivalents of car batteries in electric vehicles, and Sydrogen believes it can help companies produce fuel cells that are cheaper, more durable and more compact.

The company's chief executive officer Dev Rudra is anticipating hydrogen fuel cells to be used commercially in heavy-load, long-distance transportation vehicles within several years - possibly 2025 to 2026.

"By 2030, we are expecting there to be more commonly available fuel cell electric vehicles, very similar to where batteries are today," said Rudra.

A hydrogen fuel cell utilises hydrogen and oxygen to produce electricity, heat and water. Promoters of hydrogen power say fuel cells are a potentially greener energy source than lithium-ion batteries. But adoption had been hindered by high costs and a lack of infrastructure.

The durability and compactness of fuel cells, for instance, often come at a high price, noted Rudra.

A hydrogen fuel cell system consists of stacks of fuel cells, which will convert hydrogen to electricity. These stacks make up a significant cost of the system.

Sydrogen is working on leveraging Nanofilm's coating technology to develop protective carbon coatings for the metallic bipolar plates of fuel cells.

This carbon coating is similar to conductive diamond, with material properties such as corrosion resistance, low resistivity, ion-leaching prevention, and high conductivity. And it would contribute towards the cost-effectiveness of the plates.

"We're going to make these fuel cell stacks much more compact, durable, as well as economical; because they'll be made of stainless steel as opposed to expensive materials like titanium or bulky materials like graphite," said Rudra. "By doing that, we're going to reduce the price point to where these fuel cells will become economical for use in large applications like automotives."

Even if the fuel cells themselves become cheaper to make, the infrastructure to support the use of hydrogen fuel cells is still in the early stages.

Another challenge is transporting hydrogen, which is considered a dangerous, flammable gas.

Rudra reckons infrastructure rollouts will be accelerated given the urgent calls to tackle climate change.

China, for instance, has been ramping up the country's infrastructure to make green hydrogen a viable alternative energy source. It aims to build 1,000 hydrogen refuelling outlets by 2025 while increasing cumulative sales of fuel cell vehicles to 1 million by 2035.

To prepare for commercial opportunities in China, Sydrogen is commissioning and installing its initial pilot production line at Nanofilm's Shanghai Plant 2. The line will undergo customer qualification for an automotive project involving a key component for a hydrogen fuel cell stack.

Sydrogen is also working towards a maiden revenue contribution to Nanofilm in 2022.

Rudra said it is important to capture opportunities in the market early: "The product development cycle in the automotive industry, particularly for a new technology like hydrogen fuel cells, is probably going to take about between 4 to 10 years. So it is very important that we get into the product development cycle early."

Sydrogen intends to provide solutions that are unique to system requirements for customers, he added.

The company has been working closely with customers to find out their pain points and develop solutions.

"We are learning what our technology can do, we are learning what the potential of this technology is. In the longer term, we are planning to develop more solutions for fuel cell applications," said Rudra.

In the near future, Sydrogen has plans to develop solutions for other components of fuel cells such as electrolyser systems - which are used to sustainably produce hydrogen - and hydrogen storage.

Sydrogen was formed in July this year with a total initial investment of S$140 million.

It is 65 per cent-owned by Nanofilm, which contributed S$21 million in cash to the JV as well as its hydrogen energy business and some related intellectual property licences.

To support its technological developments, Sydrogen has entered into a collaboration with Nanyang Technological University. The company has also tried to ensure it has the right technical leadership.

Rudra has an engineering background and over two decades' experience in leadership positions at high technology engineered product companies such as Pratt & Whitney and General Electric.

Most recently, he was managing director of General Electric Aviation's manufacturing and aftermarket service businesses in Singapore.

Sydrogen's chairman James Rowan, meanwhile, has held C-suite roles at Dyson and BlackBerry.

Investing in deep tech comes with significant risks, but Nanofilm's deputy chief executive officer Gian Yi-Hsen said the company is playing a "different game".

Unlike in typical manufacturing where one often has to be "cheaper than the next guy that comes along", Nanofilm, together with Sydrogen, are developing their own capabilities and putting out products and services at a global stage, according to Gian.

"I think that makes a lot of difference and gives us the opportunity to determine our fate," he added.

"I don't think you will see many efforts like this in Singapore where we are creating from scratch a very deep tech company that we want to accelerate very quickly."