The Elements of Innovation Discovered
The Elements of Innovation Discovered
Schlumberger, CEA partner with industrial sector for pilots Metal Tech News – November 24, 2021
Genvia is advancing its solid-oxide hydrogen technology from an innovative cell to an industrial scale solution of large CO2 sectors such as cement and steelmaking.
A French private-public partnership that includes Schlumberger New Energy and the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) is tackling the carbon dioxide emissions from two industrial sectors that account for more than 15% of global CO2 output – cement manufacturing and steelmaking.
Leveraging more than two decades of research and development by CEA, the French technology venture known as Genvia has signed agreements with industrial leaders to scale up next-generation technologies for producing hydrogen without CO2 emissions, accelerating the decarbonization of multiple industrial sectors.
During a Nov. 16 visit to the Schlumberger and Genvia facility, France President Emmanuel Macron praised the joint public-private partnership and reiterated his commitment and ambition for the hydrogen economy.
To back this commitment, Macron announced 1.9 billion euros (US$2.1 billion) in government funding toward the development of hydrogen technologies.
He said France's nuclear capacity, which accounts for more than 70% of the country's electrical generation, offers the nation an opportunity to become a global leader in the production of carbon-free hydrogen.
"If we know how to be leaders in the production of hydrogen, then we will build energy sovereignty," he said during his visit to the Genvia facility.
As the next step to advancing its hydrogen technologies to the industrial scale, Genvia has signed three partnerships for pilot projects that will focus on efficiency, performance, and decarbonization of processes for the steel and cement industries.
This includes working with ArcelorMittal Méditerranée, a subsidiary of the global steelmaker ArcelorMittal, that has agreed to a pilot project to utilize Genvia's hydrogen-producing technologies to support the decarbonization of high-performance electric steel production required for the electric vehicle industry.
Ugitech, which is part of Swiss Steel Group, has agreed to a pilot project to test the economic efficiency and technical relevance of replacing traditional natural gas with Genvia produced hydrogen to fuel a reheating furnace in the stainless steelmaking process.
Genvia is also partnering with Vicat, a cement production group, and Hynamics, a low-carbon and renewable hydrogen solutions subsidiary of French nuclear power company EDF group, on the optimization of Genvia's technology in the cement sector.
Genvia technology aims to achieve the highest system efficiency, resulting in significantly less electricity use per kilogram of hydrogen produced. The projects are expected to produce hydrogen in amounts ranging from 200 to 600 kilograms per day.
Schlumberger says these agreements will set the stage for developing the entire value chain to use hydrogen as the preferred clean energy carrier.
"The agreements are important steps in accelerating the deployment of Genvia technology that will support the future hydrogen economy," said Schlumberger New Energy Executive Vice President Ashok Belani. "As a scalable, carbon-free energy carrier, clean hydrogen will play a critical role in meeting global energy transition and net-zero ambitions. Genvia will accelerate the large-scale adoption of clean hydrogen through its demonstrator projects in different industries."
With more than 16 years of covering mining, Shane is renowned for his insights and and in-depth analysis of mining, mineral exploration and technology metals.
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