Good Energy

H2PRO is a startup company that produces hydrogen using green energy based on an innovative technology invented at Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. The company is one of just five chosen as finalists in a prestigious competition organized by Royal Dutch Shell. It is the youngest company on the list, and the only one from Israel. There were several elimination rounds during the competition, called New Energy Challenge, and organizers recently announced the five finalists have all been designated for investment and scale-up.

H2PRO’s innovative technology heralds a new era of green hydrogen production by splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen using electrical power. Traditional electrolysis produces hydrogen and oxygen simultaneously, which requires a membrane to separate them. The use of a membrane makes the system and the process significantly more expensive. Green hydrogen is an alternative fuel that can replace oil and natural gas in the long term. It plays a critical role in the reduction of polluting vehicle emissions, as well as in clean production of materials and chemicals, heating and storing renewable energy. 

From left to right: Dr. Avigail Landman, Prof. Gideon Grader, Prof. Avner Rothschild and Dr. Hen Dotan

The new technology renders the membrane unnecessary, since the two gases are produced at different stages. Furthermore, this technology increases energy efficiency by 20-25% compared to the alternatives, significantly improves the safety of the production process, reduces the cost of building the system to approximately one half, and increases the pressure of the produced hydrogen, thereby reducing the cost of downstream hydrogen compression.

H2PRO was founded in 2019 by Technion researchers Prof. Gideon Grader (Chemical Engineering), Prof. Avner Rothschild and Dr. Hen Dotan (Materials Science and Engineering), in collaboration with the founders of Viber, headed by entrepreneur Talmon Marco. The company received an exclusive license to commercialize the technology from T3, Technion’s technology transfer unit. To date, it has raised capital from Hyundai, Sumitomo and Bazan, and from private investors and funds. The research that led to the establishment of H2PRO was supported by the Nancy and Stephen Grand Technion Energy Program (GTEP), a donation by Ed Satell, the Adelis Foundation, Israel’s Ministry of Energy and the European Commission (the EU’s 2020 program). The research was conducted together with Dr. Avigail Landman, who was a PhD student of both Prof. Rothschild and Prof. Grader.