New Energies, new possibilities

[더구루=오소영 기자] 호주 연료전지 회사 '실트랙스(Siltrax)'가 실리콘 기반 연료전지를 공식 론칭했다. 실리콘의 강점을 모아 성능과 내구성 모두 우수한 연료전지로 글로벌 시장을 공략한다.

28일 실트랙스에 따르면 이 회사는 최근 실리콘 양극판을 활용한 연료전지를 출시했다. 양극판은 연료전지 스택 내에 위치한다. 수소와 산소를 전기로 변환하는 촉매 역할을 한다.

실트랙스는 핵심 부품인 양극판을 실리콘으로 제작했다. 가볍고, 기계·화학적 안전성을 갖췄고, 고온을 견디며, 내구성이 우수한 실리콘의 장점을 가져오기 위해서다. 이를 통해 연료전지의 전력밀도와 성능, 내구성 모두 타사 제품 대비 향상됐다는 게 회사 측의 설명이다.

또한 실트랙스의 연료전지는 기존 태양전지 생산 시 필요한 장비와 공정, 기술을 토대로 만들 수 있어 생산 비용도 절감된다. 드론과 수직이착륙기(eVOLT) 등 높은 에너지밀도를 요구하는 항공우주, 고정식 발전, 모빌리티 등에 활용 가능하다.

실트랙스는 신제품을 앞세워 연료전지 수요에 대응한다. 글로벌 연료전지 시장은 전 세계적인 에너지 전환 흐름에 발맞춰 성장하고 있다. 일본 후지경제는 2030년 전 세계 연료전지 시장이 약 50조원 규모로 2017년 대비 28배 성장할 것으로 전망했다. 

실트랙스는 앞서 호주 청정에너지금융공사(CEFC)로부터 700만 달러(약 90억원)의 투자를 유치했다. 총 1000만 달러(약 130억원)를 확보하며 성장잠재력을 인정받았다.  

정롱 쉬(Zhengrong Shi) 실트랙스 공동 창업자 겸 최고경영자(CEO)는 "실리콘의 특성 덕분에 연료전지 설계의 경계를 넓히고 저비용·고서능 제품을 만들 수 있게 됐다"며 "태양전지의 자원도 활용해 대량 생산 장벽을 낮추며 글로벌 시장에 더 쉽게 (제품을) 공급할 수 있다"고 밝혔다. 

호주 실트랙스, '실리콘 양극판 탑재' 연료전지 출시 (theguru.co.kr)

Siltrax - Cutting-edge technology for a new generation of hydrogen products

Investment to be made in two equal tranches, with the first targeted to close later this year and the second in 2025; Funds will support certification and commercial production of Joby’s electric air taxi; Investment terms to include plans to establish a manufacturing alliance for the first phase of commercialization; Will bring total investment from Toyota Motor Corporation in Joby to $894 million

Toyota City, Japan, and Santa Cruz, CA--Toyota Motor Corporation (Toyota; NYSE: TM) and Joby Aviation, Inc. (Joby; NYSE:JOBY), a company developing electric air taxis for commercial passenger service, today announced that Toyota will invest an additional $500 million to support the certification and commercial production of Joby’s electric air taxi, with the aim of realizing the two companies’ shared vision of air mobility.

The investment, which will be made in two equal tranches, is subject to standard regulatory approvals and certain other conditions, finalization of collaborative and commercial agreements and, with respect to the second tranche, the finalization of terms related to a strategic alliance focused on commercial manufacturing and certain other conditions. The investment, which will bring Toyota Motor Corporation’s total investment in Joby to $894 million, will be made in the form of cash for common stock, with the first tranche targeted to close later this year and the second in 2025. Further details of the investment are available via the companies’ regulatory filings with the SEC.

“Today’s investment builds on nearly seven years of collaboration between our companies,” said JoeBen Bevirt, founder and CEO, Joby Aviation. “The knowledge and support shared by Toyota has been instrumental in Joby’s success and we look forward to deepening our relationship as we deliver on our shared vision for the future of air travel.”

Joby continues to make important progress towards commercialization, recently rolling its third aircraft off its pilot production line in Marina, California, and breaking ground on an expanded facility in California that will more than double the Company’s manufacturing footprint. In August 2024, it confirmed that the fourth of five stages of the type certification process is now more than one-third complete on the Joby side.

“With this additional investment, we are excited to see Joby certify their aircraft and shift to commercial production,” said Tetsuo “Ted” Ogawa, who signed the agreement as the Operating Officer on behalf of Toyota Motor Corporation. “We share Joby’s view that sustainable flight will be central to alleviating today’s persistent mobility challenges.”

Toyota’s additional investment reflects the continued aim of Toyota Motor Corporation’s founding family, starting with Kiichiro Toyoda down to present-day Chairman Akio Toyoda, to realize the dream of air mobility for personal or daily travel as part of its transformation into a mobility company.

Since 2019, in addition to monetary investments, Toyota has been investing time and human resources to share its knowledge of the Toyota Production System via process planning, manufacturing method development, and tooling design. Toyota engineers now work side-by-side with the Joby team in California, and, in 2023, the two companies signed a long-term agreement for Toyota to supply key powertrain and actuation components for the production of Joby’s aircraft.

Toyota’s relationship with Joby began through an initial investment made by Toyota Ventures, the early-stage venture capital arm of Toyota that explores and identifies disruptive technologies and companies for investment opportunities and provides support for portfolio companies. Toyota Motor Corporation subsequently completed investments totaling $394 million.

The shares to be sold in the investment have not been, and will not be, registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (“Securities Act”), or any state or other applicable jurisdiction’s securities laws, and may not be offered or sold in the United States except pursuant to an effective registration statement or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities Act and applicable state or other jurisdictions’ securities laws. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy these securities, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or other jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to the registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or other jurisdiction.

About Joby

Joby Aviation, Inc. (NYSE:JOBY) is a California-based transportation company developing an all-electric, vertical take-off and landing air taxi which it intends to operate as part of a fast, quiet, and convenient service in cities around the world.

About Toyota

Toyota (NYSE:TM), creator of the Prius hybrid and the Mirai fuel cell vehicle, is committed to building vehicles for the way people live through our Toyota and Lexus brands, and directly employs more than 63,000 people in North America (more than 49,000 in the U.S.).

Over the past 65 years, Toyota has assembled nearly 47 million cars and trucks in North America at the company’s 12 manufacturing plants. By 2025, the company’s 13th plant in North Carolina will begin to manufacture automotive batteries for electrified vehicles.

Through our more than 1,800 North American dealerships (nearly 1,500 in the U.S.), Toyota sold more than 2.6 million cars and trucks (more than 2.2 million in the U.S.) in 2023, of which more than one quarter were electrified vehicles (full battery, hybrid, plug-in hybrid and fuel cell).

Source: Fuel Cells Works

The Slovenian start-up ReCatalyst and the German spin-off company ionysis GmbH are collaborating on the development of next-generation fuel cells as part of the ENABLER project, funded by the European Innovation Council (EIC). The companies have now made significant progress in their technical development.

On the one hand, ReCatalyst has developed a new generation of fuel cell catalyst materials based on mesoporous carbons, for which a production patent has also been filed. Using these novel materials, the ionysis team has successfully developed full-format fuel cells (a commercial cell platform with approximately 200 cm² active area), which, for the first time, have achieved the project performance target of >2 A/cm² at 0.65 V. This is a significant milestone in demonstrating the technological maturity of both ReCatalyst’s platinum alloy catalysts and ionysis’s hydrocarbon-based CCM technology.

“The collaboration with ionysis is exactly what makes the EIC Transition project very special – it enabled both start-ups to rapidly improve their technologies without compromising commercial goals,” said Dr. Matija Gatalo, CTO ReCatalyst.  “We have been able to reach this significant performance target exactly because of our synergies, since a great catalyst can only show its potential in a highly optimized CCM.”

Dr. Matthias Breitwieser, CTO of ionysis, commented: “The timing was perfect: ReCatalyst has made huge progress in catalyst development, while at the same time we have significantly optimized the ink formulation and our direct CCM coating process. This enabled us to integrate both developments into our next generation of hydrocarbon-based CCMs.”  

The next step for both companies is scaling. ReCatalyst is scaling up the synthesis of its new catalysts, while ionysis is currently installing the pilot plant for CCM production.

“The synergies between us, such as the maturity stage as well as technological complementarity, enable us to thrive,” said Tomaž Bizjak, CEO of ReCatalyst. “We understand each other’s needs and dynamics well and we know that only through such potent innovation we can tackle the challenge of exploiting our commercial potentials in the fast-developing global market with many established players.” 

Lisa Langer, CFO of ionysis, added: “EIC Transition offers a unique project setup where the commercialization of technological innovation is prepared from the very beginning. It is a huge benefit for ionysis to have a sparring partner in ReCatalyst and push forward the complementary innovations to move ahead faster in the quest of bringing the next generation of fuel cells to market.”

Source: Hydrogentechworld