Announced last Thursday (May 26), the £218,000 ($275,000) contract from the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS), looks to tackle leak issues holding back the transition to hydrogen.

The Bristol-based start-up has said it plans to get rid of components in traditional hardware that wear out, replacing them with mechanisms designed to last a lifetime

Actuation Lab has been developing the origami-inspired ‘Dragonfly Valve’ it claims removes all leak paths found in traditional valves.

Hydrogen leakage currently poses a serious issue for the hydrogen supply chain, with leaks occurring much faster than natural gas. The start-up says, estimates suggest 80 million tonnes of hydrogen is lost through leaks each year.

Simon Bates, CEO of Actuation Lab, said, “Hydrogen has the potential to help us completely decarbonise our hard-to-electrify sectors, but only if we can stop it from escaping.

“As well as advancing our technologies, this government support is allowing us to work with the energy industry and research institutions to define the scale of the challenge that hydrogen leakage will present in a decarbonised world, and how best to address it through hardware innovation.”