Clyde Hydrogen makes technology breakthrough

Clyde Hydrogen Systems (Clyde Hydrogen), a spin-out from the University of Glasgow, has produced hydrogen continuously from water via its innovative decoupled electrolysis process for the first time. 

The milestone marks the successful operation of the company’s ‘Beta’ prototype system and an important stage in the development of a commercially viable system for its decoupled electrolysis hydrogen production process.

The groundbreaking test comprised of operating scaled up versions of the two main sub-systems together under manual control.

The next step is to build the fully integrated prototype with a control system which the team expect to achieve later in 2025.

Demonstrated

This exciting development comes hot on the heels of Clyde Hydrogen achieving its first major technology milestone, announced in December 2024, when the business demonstrated it successfully produced hydrogen at pressures exceeding 100 bar using its scaled-up catalytic hydrogen generator.

• Clyde Hydrogen CEO James Peck

Clyde Hydrogen is a spin-out from the University of Glasgow’s School of Chemistry, a global leader in electrochemistry research.

Its cutting-edge technology utilises a decoupled electrolysis process, including an electrochemical reductor which generates a reduced mediator solution and a catalytic hydrogen generator that produces high-pressure hydrogen gas.

The successful demonstration of a semi-integrated prototype which can produce hydrogen continuously represents a significant technical validation of Clyde Hydrogen’s technology, which is designed to convert low-quality, intermittent renewable power into clean hydrogen.

This milestone underscores Clyde Hydrogen’s capability to provide scalable, efficient, and cost-effective solutions for the global transition to net-zero.

James Peck, CEO of Clyde Hydrogen, said: “This is an important step for the team as it enables us to demonstrate that the system works continuously and gives confidence that we can begin the build of the full prototype in preparation for a commercial pilot project next year.”

Clyde Hydrogen is on track to deliver a fully integrated pilot system in 2025, and following this, plans to scale up to a commercial demonstrator, with the first market-ready product targeted for release by 2027.

This is an important step for the team as it enables us to demonstrate that the system works continuously and gives confidence that we can begin the build of the full prototype in preparation for a commercial pilot project next year.

James Peck

Last month, the business signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Hebrides-based green hydrogen producer and distributor, PlusZero, to demonstrate its groundbreaking decoupled electrolyser technology for the first time outside of the laboratory.

Backed by pre-seed funding from Zinc, the University of Glasgow and grants from the Scottish Government’s Hydrogen Innovation Scheme (HIS) and the Net Zero Technology Centre (NZTC), Clyde Hydrogen is now ready to accelerate its growth.

To support its journey toward commercialisation, Clyde Hydrogen has launched a new funding round aimed at attracting up to £5m of new investment. The funds will enable the company to refine its production process, develop a production-ready system in 2026, and expand its team to meet the growing demand for hydrogen technology.