Proposals for this topic should set out a credible pathway to contribute to the development and validation of pressurised PCCEL with technological breakthroughs aiming at designing and operating a stack at an optimal pressure with eventual assistance of a downstream compression process to reach higher delivery pressure. The proposals should focus on system and stack design, as well as fabrication, assembly and testing of stack in the conditions suitable for the relevant business cases as follows:

• System design should be defined based on an optimal integration of the PCCEL in selected application(s) while taking into account the operating limits of the PCCEL. This activity will entail defining optimal operating pressure of the stack and system to balance electricity consumption and heat demand at nominal capacity;
• A techno-economic evaluation of the PCCEL integrated in given application(s) will provide the Levelised Cost of Hydrogen (LCOH) of the pressurised PCCEL system taking into account economy of scale and will be used to evaluate the impacts of the various modes of operation. (e.g. atmospheric PCCEL + pressurisation afterwards, pressurised PCCEL, electrochemical compression in the PCCEL, and combination of modes) Comparing the technology with e.g. other alkaline and PEM electrolysers, operating in pressurised mode using similar boundary limits should also provide insights into relevant business models. The proposals should furthermore aim at reaching the capital costs below 2,000 €/(kg/d);
• The project should also compare the efficiency gains between pressurised electrolyser and unpressurised with compressor for various system sizes and propose the most efficient solution;
• A stack designed for high current density (0.5 A/cm2), should be successfully operated over one long term test of at least 2,000 hrs and 4,000 hours of aggregated testing time in relevant pressurised operating conditions at a minimum pressure of 5 bar and conforming to the envisaged use case;
• Degradation mechanisms and boundary operation of the stack and its components should be identified and measured with respect to pressure, temperature, load, in stationary and transient conditions; etc. (further details in the Funding&Tenders page)

The applicants should provide thorough analysis of safety aspects, such as safety shut-off, and focus on establishing smooth operation modes including pressurisation and depressurisation.