NextHeat is looking for partners for a complete local hydrogen solution

March 19,2024

Source: NextHeat/Azure Energy GmbH

NextHeat is a spin-off of Nuremberg Institute of Technology and focuses on the decarbonization of process heat. The aim is to offer a plug-and-play solution with which companies can switch from natural gas to hydrogen in industrial furnaces, for example.

Through in-house developments and partnerships, three modules are being developed, namely
- H2 burners,
- electrolysers for hydrogen production and
- a virtual power plant concept in which, for example, a PV system is digitally coupled with the electrolyser in order to meet the requirements of RED III for green hydrogen.

The main advantages are:
- Electrolysers are exempt from grid charges and electricity taxes, i.e. even taking conversion losses into account, heat from locally produced hydrogen costs 65% less than with electric furnaces.
- Compared to direct electrification, the entire infrastructure (industrial furnaces) does not have to be replaced, only the burners.

NextHeat is currently funded by the EXIST research transfer program (BMWK). During the two-year funding period, the NextHeat team was able to further develop the combustion technology and bring a hydrogen burner with an output of 20 kW to market maturity. At 15 mg/Nm3, the emission values (NOx) are 75% lower than those of comparable burners.

With the aim of being able to offer industrial customers a complete solution, the first hydrogen production with an output of 5 kW has already been successfully implemented. In addition, as part of the Set-Hub Mentoring Program with experts from DENA and Accenture, a power supply module was designed and further developed that meets all the requirements for green hydrogen.

Figure 1 - IR radiation image of a 100% H2 burner

Figure 2 - NextHeat team and hydrogen production

In the next step, the H2 combustion and electrolyser modules will be scaled up to 100 kW and 150 kW and put into operation at a pilot customer.

For this purpose, NextHeat is looking for a partner to realize this pilot project. The aim is to put the complete solution with local hydrogen production, optimization of the power supply and conversion of an industrial furnace into operation and thus create a first reference project.

Funding is planned for the realization of the reference project.

If you are interested, please contact Fernando Reichert:

Email: Contact by Mail

Tel.: 017663719502