Award of Excellence 2022

Integrating electrolysis with wind, solar and/or nuclear energy

First winner of the Award of Excellence 2022

The project nuGenTM Zero Emissions Haulage Solution is the winner of the first edition of the Hydrogen TCP Award of Excellence.

Anglo American’s has committed to be carbon neutral across all their operations by 2040. Their mining haul trucks currently account for up to 80% of diesel consumption on-site and to meet the ambitious climate commitments, they needed to develop a zero-emission solution to one of the hardest to abate applications in the world. They analysed their mine site power requirements, coupled with diesel consumption, and have applied a regional ecosystem decarbonisation approach to how they look at renewable energy systems and their benefits. As a result, Anglo American identified an energy mix that allows them to be carbon neutral and have a very different footprint. In May 2022 , nuGen™ Zero Emission Haulage Solution (“ZEHS”) was launched at the Mogalakwena PGM mine in South Africa: it is a fully integrated, end-to-end green hydrogen system, consisting of green hydrogen production, fuelling and haulage system consisting of a demonstrating solar PV plant (340kW), a 3.5MW electrolyser and refuelling station as well as a 2MW hybrid fuel cell-battery truck. One of the key partners was Engie with their contributing hydrogen supply and distribution. In the meantime, they announced the combination of nuGen ZEHS with engineering company First Mode to accelerate commercialisation of the technology beyond Anglo American and beyond mining.

Find out more about the project here

What is the Award of Excellence?

The IEA Hydrogen TCP launched the Award of Excellence competition to recognize excellence in international collaboration in research, development, and application of hydrogen technologies.

The Hydrogen TCP Award of Excellence aims to leverage innovation in hydrogen technologies and applications. The Award of Excellence is a joint action of the IEA Hydrogen TCP and the Clean energy Ministerial Hydrogen Initiative (CEM-H2I) to recognize excellence in hydrogen technology projects around the world and provide a platform to show-case the winning projects.

The Award of Excellence will be given out yearly during the annual Clean Energy Ministerial meeting. The theme for this Award of Excellence competition in 2022 is “Integrating electrolysis with wind, solar and/or nuclear energy” and will be awarded during CEM13 in Pittsburgh, USA, between 21st and 23rd of September 2022.

Who can apply?

An award may be given to a private or public entity, team, or group as well as to an individual. The focus of this competition is to recognize one or more projects that exhibit excellence in integrating electrolytical systems with wind, solar and/or nuclear and successfully demonstrated operation on the MW scale.

The Hydrogen TCP is encouraging applications by public/private energy companies, start-ups, universities, and research institutions. Any entity of team of entities may apply, but only one entry per project will be allowed.

 

What is the criteria?

An acceptable project must have a minimum installed capacity of 1 MW electrolyser, additionally it will be positively considered if it has been in operation for a minimum period of 6 months as of the 1st of July 2022.

The application must be supported by evidence, to allow an expert selecting committee to make a reasoned judgement measured against the following evaluation criteria:

  • Technological and environmental impact
  • Potential for replication and scaling-up
  • Innovation
  • Economic impact
  • Other benefits

 

See the section “FAQ” below describing the evaluation criteria in more detail.

Submit your proposal

Organizing Committee

The Organizing Committee is formed by:

  • Marina Holgado, IEA Hydrogen TCP Technical Secretariat Coordinator
  • Carla Robledo, Hydrogen TCP ExCo Representative for the Netherlands
  • Michael Gasik, Hydrogen TCP ExCo Representative for Finland
  • Sarbojit Pal, Manager of Partnerships, Clean Energy Ministerial Secretariat

Selection Committee

The Selection Committee is composed of highly respected and well-known experts currently or previously associated with the Hydrogen TCP with extensive knowledge of hydrogen technologies. Names won’t be public in order to preserve judges independance.

Each year a new committee is assigned based on the chosen topic for the award.

Timeline of the Awards

In collaboration with

FAQ

What will be the selection process?
The Organizing Committee will collect all proposals and send them to the Selection Committee that will have around two weeks to evaluate them. Submissions that do not meet all the criteria will be rejected.

The members of the Selection Committee will individually and collectively review the submissions, judging them using the evaluation criteria described.

The evaluation process will close with a “consensus meeting” where both the Organizing and Selection Committees will put their ideas in common and select the winning project(s).

When the Awards Ceremony will take place?
The Award ceremony will be conducted as a side-event of the CEM13 in Pittsburg, USA, between 21st – 23rd September.

Stay tuned for more information.

What is the rewarding prize?
Winner(s) will be granted a limited individual license to advertise and promote the award granted to the project and a limited right to use and refer to the H2 TCP Award of Excellence mark (i.e., the logo) and the phrase “Hydrogen TCP Award of Excellence Winner”.

Access to the CEM-13 will be granted and the Award will cover travel costs to personally attend the ceremony and receive the prize*.

*Travel costs covered up to 2000€.

What will be evaluated in "Technological and environmental impact"?
The impact of the project, including its approach, design, implementation, and functionalities, in particular related to the integration of electrolysis with renewable energy and its impact on the environment. Questions to be addressed: i.e., does the system allow for congestion management? Are there materials and energy savings in the integration of the systems? Are there any efficiency gains? How is the water management system?
What will be evaluated in "Potential for replication and scaling-up"?
The degree and ease with which the project attributes can be replicated, adapted, or scaled to other environments and/or countries to integrate electrolysis with wind, solar and/or nuclear energy. These should be supported by possible relevant metrics or other performance indicators when possible.
What will be evaluated in "Innovation"?
TThe degree to which one or more project elements is novel and potentially transformative. These should be supported by possible relevant metrics or other performance indicators when possible. 
What will be evaluated in "Economic impact"?
The degree to which the project exhibit strong evidence of direct or indirect economic benefits such as but not limited to a compelling business case for the total cost of hydrogen production. These should be supported by possible relevant metrics or other performance indicators when possible.
What will be evaluated in "Other benefits"?
The degree to which the project adds value and produce non-economic benefits, directly or indirectly, across one or more other dimensions not considered in the criteria above including (but not limited to) social, environmental, safety, and community factors.
Who can I contact in case of doubt?
Questions regarding any aspects of the application process or guidelines may be submitted to the Organizing Committee via e-mail at technicalsecretariat@ieahydrogen.org.

Please include the term “Question Award” in the e-mail subject line.