Advent Technologies Holdings, Inc. , an innovation-driven leader in the fuel cell and hydrogen technology sectors, is pleased to announce the signing of a technology assessment, sales, and development agreement with Hyundai Motor Company (“Hyundai”), a leading multinational automotive manufacturer offering a range of world-class vehicles and mobility services in over 200 countries.
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Advent and Hyundai aim to deliver green energy solutions to current high carbon applications, using fuel cell technology. Under the agreement, Hyundai will provide catalysts to Advent for evaluation in its proprietary Membrane Electrode Assemblies (“MEAs”), while Advent intends to support Hyundai in fulfilling its fuel cell project needs, through:
- Developing inks and structures using IFAT catalysts, which will then be evaluated by IFAT. Following evaluation, Hyundai will determine whether IFAT or standard catalysts will be used for this project.
- Supplying MEAs throughout the development/commercialization cycle (“Advent MEAs”) for testing, evaluation, and optimization under conditions set by Hyundai.
- Assisting Hyundai with the use and specifications of MEAs as well as their implementation into Hyundai’s designs.
Following the completion of the first phase of the project, the companies will collaborate closely to set out specific product requirements, collaborative product goals, as well as milestones for achieving established goals and plans for phase 2, which shall also include Advent’s stack cooling technology.
The new Advent MEAs to be tested by Hyundai are currently being developed within the framework of L’Innovator, Advent’s joint development program with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory, Brookhaven National Laboratory, and National Renewable Energy Laboratory. MEAs are the most important components of a fuel cell as they greatly define the performance, lifetime, weight, and cost of the end system.
Advent MEAs operate at a high temperature (80oC to 240oC) compared to the incumbent low temperature PEM technology, which is restricted to an operating temperature of below 100oC. The ability to operate at a high temperature confers significant advantages such as the efficient heat removal in heavy-duty mobility applications, making Advent’s high temperature PEM an ideal technology for trucks, aviation, and marine applications. Advent’s MEAs can operate effectively with fuels such as impure hydrogen which can be reformed on-board from methanol, natural gas, and other renewable fuels. Advent’s MEAs are also resilient to extreme temperature variations, humidity, and air quality conditions.