TDK Corporation Joins Alkaline Fuel Cell Manufacturer GenCell In Developing A Low-cost Approach To Green Ammonia

GenCell Energy, a leading Israel-based manufacturer of fuel cell energy solutions, today announces that Gencell and TDK Corporation, the  Japanese major passive component company and one of the world’s leaders in the manufacture of lithium ion batteries under its umbrella, have signed a framework agreement  intended to support GenCell in developing a novel and low-cost approach to green ammonia, the fuel of the future.  GenCell intends to develop an end-to-end, clean, low temperature and highly energy-efficient process for green ammonia production aimed at replacing the 235 million metric tons of industrial ammonia produced today, reflecting a market value of some US$70 billion.  The development effort to achieve a technological Proof of Concept will involve an initial investment of some US$ 8.5 million.

The rapidly expanding green ammonia market has been forecasted by Argus Research to grow to as much as a billion ton per annum market, as it is increasingly becoming the disruptive fuel of the future that will be able to drive decarbonization across numerous segments of the global energy markets. This green ammonia will not only provide feedstock for fertilizers and fuel for marine shipping but will also produce the fuel for GenCell’s alkaline fuel cells, enabling GenCell to deliver a self-sustained circular economy green source of power to the site where the power is to be consumed, enabling electrification anywhere. In this way, TDK Corporation and GenCell could realize a joint vision to meet the world’s demand for clean energy.

The development of this unique process to produce the green ammonia fuel of the future will boost GenCell to the position of a major player in the innovative clean fuel industry. The ability to produce not only clean power from GenCell’s fuel cells, but also the green fuel on which the fuel cells run, sets GenCell in a far superior position as a well-to-wheel total green energy solution provider.  These independent clean “nano-power” stations will completely circumvent the complex logistical and cost challenges to transporting and storing hydrogen as well as the strict regulatory barriers limiting mass distribution of large quantities of ammonia, thus facilitating compliance with ambitious U.N.-defined zero carbon emission targets that have been adopted by Japan, the European Union, the U.S. and other countries around the world.

This technology signifies an important step forward for TDK towards achieving by 2050 the zero-carbon emission targets set by the government of Japan. “We are extremely pleased to reach this important milestone towards developing our green ammonia vision,” comments Dai Matsuoka, CTO, TDK Corporation. “Looking at the excellent progress we have made to date in our technology cooperation with GenCell, we are confident that together we will succeed in translating this vision to reality and in applying deep materials science knowledge to create the chemistry that will fuel our future.”

Rami Reshef, GenCell CEO explains, “GenCell salutes our partners at TDK for their leadership, commitment and perseverance in working with us to flesh out these designs and concepts for green ammonia synthesis and to translate them into valuable scientific knowhow and repeatable processes that will allow us to revolutionize, streamline and economize ammonia production.  We are confident that our disruptive and economical approach will displace costly alternatives and garner interest and market share both for TDK and GenCell. More importantly, this technology will enable the broad availability of green ammonia and the proliferation of self-sustaining green ammonia-driven “nano-power” stations that will empower us to move towards eliminating carbon emissions and neutralizing the climate crisis.  The future is now, and the future of energy is green ammonia.”