IREC launches hydrogen tech manufacturing plant

This achievement positions IREC as a pioneer in the field and represents a strategic advance for hydrogen technology manufacturing in Catalonia, Spain.

This pilot line, presented under the name Merce Lab (Manufacturing Energy Ceramic Devices), has been installed thanks to funding from the company H2B2 within the framework of the Tecnopropia project (IPCEI programme), among other initiatives. It will manufacture solid oxide cells (SOC) for fuel cells and electrolysers at pre-industrial scale.

Currently, very few actors worldwide are capable of manufacturing this type of cells, which stands out for its high efficiency, superior to competing technologies. Thanks to 3D printing of functional ceramics, Merce Lab has become the first laboratory in the world to use this method to produce SOC cells.

The main advantage of 3D printing is its flexibility in design, reduced material consumption, and a drastic reduction in the weight and volume of the final device, thus increasing the energy density of the final systems. This increase in energy density makes these devices particularly attractive both for transport applications and for storing renewable energy through hydrogen generation.

This is a highly innovative and scalable technology, structured into various blocks ranging from the preparation of basic components to cell stacking and validation. This structure will promote technology transfer to companies both nationally and internationally, and will support the creation of new business models aimed at accelerating the industrialisation of renewable hydrogen.

Marc Torrell, Head of Merce Lab at IREC, said: “This facility positions us as pioneers in SOC manufacturing at a global scale,” adding that “this is a disruptive approach to manufacturing processes and performance of ceramic-based devices, opening the door to new SOC systems for applications that previously could not meet desired requirements, such as maritime or aviation transport”.

This initiative is part of an Important Project of Common European Interest (IPCEI) on hydrogen, called Tecnopropia (~€25M), led and co-funded by the electrolyser company H2B2 with Next Generation funds from the Spanish Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (PRTR). The laboratory is also financed by other ongoing international-scope projects at IREC, such as CLEANHYPRO, HYP3D, COMECOCO2, and H2SHIFT. The initial investment for this pilot line is €2 million.

IREC has already fabricated the first complete devices in this laboratory, and is forging strategic collaborations with industry partners, including major corporations (H2B2, 3Dceram, AMES, Viver Clean Tech) and smaller companies (AESA, Nano4Energy, M-reformer), with the goal of accelerating the development and commercialisation of this technology. This initiative will not only facilitate the entry of hydrogen into the Spanish market but will also help democratise access to cleaner and more sustainable energy technologies.

The development of this pilot line responds to the growing volume of investment being allocated to infrastructure for deploying the hydrogen economy. In this context, IREC plans to create Oxhyd Energy, a spin-off dedicated to the commercialisation of SOC fuel cells as a key element in the energy transition.

Key product and pilot line features

SOC technologies offer a dual advantage: they can operate both as fuel cells (using hydrogen to generate electricity) and as electrolysers (producing hydrogen for energy storage). Based on ceramic materials and operating at high temperatures, these devices can save up to 25% of the energy required to generate hydrogen, making them significantly more efficient than current polymer-based cells.

The manufacturing capacity of the current pre-industrial plant is estimated at around 2 MW/yr. It is easily scalable and achieves a fourfold increase in the power density of final devices compared with existing commercial technologies.

The estimated cost is approximately €800/kW, which would bring the price of hydrogen down to below €4/kg. Another distinguishing factor is that the materials used will be sustainable, as the modules will be free of cobalt, nickel, rare earths and other critical raw materials. This represents an excellent business opportunity given global projections of demand for electrolysers and fuel cells by 2030, estimated in the hundreds of gigawatts — far beyond current world production capacity.

This pilot line covers the entire value chain of the technology, structuring the process into five main blocks:

1. Preparation of inks as raw material.
2. Manufacturing of the cells, which are the basic units of the device.
3. Production of interconnectors, key elements for system integration.
4. Component stacking
5. Validation of the final device to ensure its quality and efficiency before subsequent use.

Read the article online at: https://www.globalhydrogenreview.com/hydrogen/05122025/irec-launches-hydrogen-tech-manufacturing-plant/