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The Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV), the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), and the engineering and technology group Sener have signed an agreement to develop a pilot plant for the production of green hydrogen based on a breakthrough technology developed by a team of researchers from the ITACA Institute (UPV) and the Institute of Chemical Technology (ITQ, CSIC-UPV).

After almost ten years of joint research, the technology developed by this UPV and CSIC team makes it possible to produce green hydrogen using microwaves, a truly revolutionary breakthrough. This innovative discovery is based on the phenomenon of microwave reduction of solid materials at unusually low temperatures compared to other technologies. The team's success was published in the Nature Energy journal in 2020.

The technology, protected by an international patent family, enables direct electrochemical processes without the need for electrodes, making practical applications easier and more cost-effective. This is achieved through freedom in the design of the device architecture and the choice of operating conditions, in particular temperature. These factors allow greater flexibility and efficiency in the hydrogen generation process. Its development has had a significant global impact, positioning the Universitat Politècnica de València and the CSIC as international leaders in this innovative technology.

The agreement signed by the Rector of the Universitat Politècnica de València, José E. Capilla, the Vice President of Innovation and Transfer of the CSIC, Ana Castro, and the Director of Energy Business of Sener, Juan Ivorra, will allow the development of a pilot plant to determine the costs of commercial exploitation of this technology, with a view to its possible industrial implementation.

The event was also attended by researchers Jose M. Catalá and Felipe Peñaranda from UPV's ITACA Institute y José M. Serra from UPV's ITQ Institute, leaders of the research groups that developed the revolutionary green hydrogen generation technology.

"This achievement demonstrates the commitment of UPV and CSIC to innovation and cutting-edge scientific research. The technology developed for the production of green hydrogen by microwaves has the potential to contribute directly to the decarbonisation of the energy industry, and this development project with Sener marks an important milestone on the road to its commercial implementation," said UPV Rector José E. Capilla, at the signing of the agreement

Likewise, Nora Castañeda, Hydrogen Business Manager at Sener, added: "We are enthusiastic about participating in this innovation project with a breakthrough technology developed by UPV and CSIC, where we will contribute our technical knowledge and experience in developing solutions for the production of renewable hydrogen. For Sener, it is essential to work on R&D and develop a scalable and industrialisable technology that will allow massive, reliable and optimised use of hydrogen as an energy vector".