Electrolyzing the Future: How EVōLOH is Sparking a Green Hydrogen Revolution
In the heart of California, a start-up named EVōLOH is making waves in the green hydrogen production landscape. Founded in 2020, this ambitious venture is on a mission to revolutionize the way we think about and produce green hydrogen. With the backing of notable firms like Breakthrough Energy and Shared Future Fund, EVōLOH is not just dreaming big – they’re acting on it.
At the center of this groundbreaking venture is Dr. Jimmy Rojas, the founder and CEO of EVōLOH. His journey began in April 2020 after evaluating hydrogen production solutions for some of the most esteemed cleantech venture capital firms. With significant funding and a clear vision, EVōLOH has spent the last three years refining its electrolyser and manufacturing technology. Today, they stand on the brink of a major equity fundraising milestone.
What makes EVōLOH stand out among its competitors? It’s their innovative approach to tackling industry-wide challenges. By opting for a low-temperature, anion-exchange chemistry, they’ve addressed the materials issue. They’ve borrowed best practices from the fuel cell industry to combat the size problem and introduced a water-only operational architecture to simplify system complexities.
But perhaps their most notable achievement is their solution to the scale problem. By leveraging high-speed manufacturing techniques from related sectors, EVōLOH has managed to produce electrolyser cells and stacks at an unprecedented pace and cost. These stacks, designed for the utility-scale green hydrogen industry, are not only efficient but also environmentally friendly, made from 100% domestically-sourced materials that can be easily recycled.
While the excitement around AEM electrolyser technology is strong, EVōLOH has also focused on addressing a key concern - stack durability. By developing high-performance, durable electrodes and utilizing a membrane-agnostic design, the company can ensure access to the best technology over time. Their stack, essentially a platform, facilitates the swift and reliable deployment of top-notch anion-exchange technologies.
EVōLOH has unveiled plans to establish a manufacturing hub in Massachusetts dedicated to the creation of its innovative anion exchange membrane (AEM) electrolyzer stacks, crucial for green hydrogen production. The Nautilus™ series stacks, boasting a unique compact cell-stacking and high power-density design, are engineered for high-speed manufacturing with cost-effective materials, eliminating the need for precious metals and relying solely on domestic supply chains. EVōLOH’s electrolyzers promise the most economical solution for green hydrogen production, offering power ratings of up to 5 MW (2 tonnes per day) per stack and 50 MW (20 tonnes per day) per containerized module, ideal for large-scale power-to-hydrogen setups.
The Massachusetts facility, dubbed EVōLOH’s Manufacturing Center of Excellence, will meld development facilities and staff with a singular line of EVōLOH’s rapid manufacturing process. Once fully functional, the center will boast a capacity of up to 3.75 GW per year of electrolyzer stacks, marking it as the world’s largest. The construction is set to kick off later this year, with manufacturing operations launching in 2025. A second plant, slated to commence construction in 2026, aims to ramp up the production capacity to a staggering 15 GW per year of electrolyzer stacks. The company is already reserving manufacturing capacity for customers who expect to need multiple gigawatts of electrolysis by the end of the decade.