Ohmium and Aquastill In Strategic Alliance for Green Hydrogen from Seawater

Ohmium International recently announced a strategic collaboration with Aquastill, a provider of membrane distillation technology that uses the sustainable power of waste heat for desalination. The collaboration will enable Ohmium to use desalinated seawater as an input in green hydrogen production. Ohmium is a green hydrogen company that designs, manufactures, and deploys advanced Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) electrolyzers.

By integrating Aquastill’s desalination capabilities with Ohmium’s modular green hydrogen electrolyzers, the collaboration is expected to create new decarbonization opportunities for businesses operating in coastal areas.

In addition, the integration of modular desalination units will facilitate new applications for cost-effective green hydrogen production. These include co-locating PEM electrolyzers with offshore wind farms, to enable the production of green hydrogen at source. Ohmium and Aquastill have begun assessing the optimal integration of these technologies, to have these modules commercially available as soon as possible.

“This strategic collaboration is a great example of how the innovative integration of Ohmium and Aquastill’s technologies can enable the expansion of green hydrogen production to new sectors and geographies,” said Arne Ballantine, CEO of Ohmium International. “Utilizing Aquastill’s membrane technology to efficiently produce green hydrogen from seawater has the potential to be a game changer for companies operating in coastal or rural regions that want to affordably and sustainably decarbonize.”

Aquastill’s technology is powered by the residual heat from Ohmium’s electrolyzers and the membrane distillation process simultaneously provides additional cooling capabilities for the electrolyzer. While desalination technologies are generally energy intensive, the waste heat membrane-based distillation process has lesser energy requirements, the firm claims. The modular and compact system design makes them easily transportable.

“We are excited to be working with Ohmium, to successfully pair their cutting-edge PEM electrolyzers with our membrane distillation technology – providing an ideal platform to expand the transformational impact of green hydrogen production to other industries,” said Bart Nelemans, CEO of Aquastill. “We have already begun to test the integration of our respective technologies, and we are confident that as a result of this joint collaboration, we will be able to produce cost-competitive green hydrogen from seawater, while simultaneously helping decarbonize the operations of companies operating in coastal regions.”

The US-based Ohmium designs, manufactures, and deploys modular, scalable proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyzers essential for green hydrogen production. The firm has a global green hydrogen project pipeline of more than 1.8 GW across three continents. In 2023, Ohmium raised $250 Million in Series C financing, led by TPG Rise Climate.