Hydrogen Future Industries PLC (AQSE:HFI) (HFI) graced investors with an update on Tuesday, turning heads with news testing had now begun on a “potentially game-changing” wind turbine.
Designed to complement the Aquis-listed firm’s hydrogen electrolyser, HFI’s turbine can generate the equivalent energy to conventional tech, despite being half the size.
This is due to a fitted cover which directs airflow through the turbine’s blades faster, which themselves are more efficient than those on larger open models, chief executive Tim Blake explained.
Though still in the development stage, the one-metre-wide turbine has shown promising initial data, with Wednesday’s update confirming testing on a third prototype had begun.
Delighted with prototype progress.
Initial data corroborates wind tunnel results which showed potentially game-changing performance improvement in #energy generation compared to open rotor wind turbines.
This would put us on course to meet $2/kg of #greenhydrogen goal.#HFI
— Hydrogen Future Industries (@HydrogenFI) September 6, 2023
Once the weeks-long test is complete, development of a larger, commercial-scale turbine is set to begin.
These could vary between five and 20 metres in diameter, Blake added, with applications ranging between the company’s own cheaper hydrogen production tech, all the way to offshore wind farms.
“The complete energy system has been designed to generate hydrogen directly,” he said, though each of the turbine and electrolyser systems could be used separately.
“This improves the efficiency of the green hydrogen generation and reduces the cost of the hydrogen per kilogram.”
HFI is targeting green hydrogen production at less than US$2 per kilogram, potentially offering the fossil-fuel alternative far cheaper than the average of between US$3 and US$8, as per International Energy Agency data.
Given its smaller size, the turbine could offer more versatility, Blake said, both as a power source for the firm’s electrolyser or as a standalone system.