One company that is spearheading innovation is TFP Hydrogen and, to find out more, H2 View spoke with David Hodgson, Managing Director at TFP Hydrogen.

H2 View (H2V): Thanks for giving H2 View your time. To start with, could you please provide an overview of TFP Hydrogen and how it fits into the hydrogen space?

David Hodgson (DH): At TFP Hydrogen we see our mission as supplying the water electrolyser industry with the materials to produce lower cost green hydrogen.  We develop materials that provide function, lifetime and a market-leading price structure for the benefit of our customers.

Currently our products include: coatings for Ti components and highly active catalysts in PEM water electrolysers, and some developing products in alkaline and AEM technologies.

H2V: How has TFP been supporting its customers in both the US and UK in expanding its hydrogen capacity?

DH: We’ve reacted to the post-COVID drive in green hydrogen projects to aggressively increase our production capacity.  We’ve done two things here: we’ve been highly flexible with our manufacturing profile, working flexibly to deliver against very short timescales with existing production assets; and more recently, we’ve finished a project to double the UK production capacity, which will help further.

You’ll have seen we’ve also announced that we’re building a facility in the USA in NY state, so provide local manufacturing support to our customers there.

H2V: H2 View last caught up with TFP back in June 2021. What has changed since then? How has this impacted the hydrogen activities of the company?

DH: Quite a lot has changed.  We’ve grown in in size and hired some amazing new people to support us as we and our customers grow.  We’ve continued with our innovation programmes, and we will have some exciting news in the coming months as innovations come to market.

I’ve already mentioned the investments in manufacturing and we continue to look ahead to see when more is needed.  The impact of all this has been to increase and accelerate our activity and position in the green hydrogen sector; it’s a very exciting time.

H2V: Back in May 2021 TFP revealed a new cost-effective catalyst system for hydrogen production that also counters the rising costs of iridium. What is the potential of this technology and how could it impact the hydrogen community?

DH: There’re lots of concerns around iridium because of cost and availability issues and we want to be part of the solution.  The catalyst we launched has a much lower level of Ir in the formulation and we’re working with customers on thrifting right now.

The aim is to reduce the impact the anode catalyst has the PEM supply chain risks.  We’re not sitting on our laurels either – we’re expanding the catalyst manufacturing capacity right now and we have new materials in development.

H2V: What are some of the key projects that TFP is involved in and what is its role within these?

DH: We’re active in several multi-MW scale projects as a materials provider.  We’re also helping customers reduce the technology cost by actively engaging in collaborations around bespoke solutions and supply chain simplification.

We are active in some longer-term innovation projects as well, including Anione, an EU-funded programme around AEM water electrolysis.  These projects allow us to get under the skin of the science-challenges facing our industry, allowing us to really provide functional products to the market.

H2V: Is there anything else you would like to tell our audience about the company that you haven’t already?

DH: TFP Hydrogen is new as a name, but we’ve been doing this for over 10 years and we’re now seeing the benefit of being ahead of the curve. We know what our customers’ problems are and we’re to help them solve them.