What is Alkaline Electrolysers?
Alkaline electrolysers (AELs) are a type of technology used to split water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen using electricity.
They’re essentially like electrochemical batteries in reverse, where you provide electricity to break down water instead of using a chemical reaction to generate electricity.
Here’s a breakdown of how they work:
Inside an AEL:
- Electrolyte: Imagine a tank filled with a strong alkaline solution, typically potassium hydroxide (KOH). This acts as the conductor for electricity within the cell.
- Electrodes: Two electrodes, an anode and a cathode, are immersed in the electrolyte but separated by a porous membrane.
- Electricity applied: When you supply electricity to the electrodes, something magical happens!
- At the cathode: Water molecules (H₂O) react with electrons to form hydrogen gas (H₂) and release hydroxide ions (OH⁻).
- At the anode: The hydroxide ions migrate through the membrane and react with water to form oxygen gas (O₂) and take up electrons.
The result: Split water, clean hydrogen gas, and oxygen gas as a byproduct!
Advantages of AELs:
- Mature technology: They’ve been around for a long time, making them well-established and readily available.
- Cost-effective: Lower upfront costs compared to some newer technologies due to simpler design and materials.
- Durable and reliable: Can operate for long periods with minimal maintenance, ideal for industrial applications.
- High purity hydrogen: The electrolyte effectively separates hydrogen and oxygen, resulting in clean gas for various uses.
- Flexible: Adapt to fluctuating renewable energy sources by operating across a wide range of power input levels.
Challenges of AELs:
- Lower efficiency: Convert less electricity into hydrogen compared to some newer technologies.
- KOH degradation: The electrolyte solution can degrade over time, requiring replacement and adding to costs.
- Limited operating temperature: Operate at lower temperatures, affecting efficiency and hydrogen production rate.
Alkaline Electrolysers: Powering the future with green hydrogen
Alkaline electrolysers (AELs) are veterans in the field of hydrogen production, boasting a century-long history of splitting water molecules into clean-burning hydrogen and oxygen. Today, they’re experiencing a resurgence as a key technology for generating green hydrogen, powered by renewable energy sources like solar and wind.
Here’s a deep dive into the world of AELs:
How they work:
AELs function like electrochemical batteries in reverse. Imagine a tank filled with potassium hydroxide (KOH) solution, the electrolyte. Two electrodes, an anode and a cathode, are immersed in this solution, separated by a porous membrane. When electricity is applied, water molecules at the cathode get split, releasing hydrogen gas. Meanwhile, at the anode, oxygen molecules form and bubble away.
Advantages of AELs:
- Mature technology: AELs boast a long history, translating to well-established manufacturing processes and a readily available supply chain.
- Cost-effective: Compared to other electrolyzer technologies, AELs typically have lower upfront costs due to less complex materials and simpler designs.
- Durable and reliable: AELs can operate for extended periods with minimal maintenance, making them suitable for industrial applications.
- High gas purity: The alkaline electrolyte effectively separates hydrogen and oxygen, resulting in high-purity gas streams.
- Flexibility: AELs can operate across a wide range of power input levels, adapting to fluctuating renewable energy sources.
Challenges and considerations:
- Lower efficiency: Compared to newer electrolyzer technologies like proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyzers, AELs exhibit slightly lower electrical-to-hydrogen conversion efficiency.
- KOH degradation: The electrolyte solution can degrade over time, requiring periodic replacement and adding to operational costs.
- Limited operating temperature: AELs typically operate at lower temperatures compared to PEM electrolyzers, which can affect their efficiency and hydrogen production rate.
The future of AELs:
Despite the challenges, AELs continue to play a crucial role in the green hydrogen revolution. Research and development efforts are focused on improving efficiency, extending lifespan, and reducing operational costs. Additionally, large-scale deployment projects are demonstrating the feasibility and economic viability of AEL technology.
AELs offer a mature, cost-effective solution for producing green hydrogen from renewable energy sources. While they face competition from newer technologies, continuous advancements and large-scale deployment hold promise for a bright future in the clean energy landscape.
https://www.exaputra.com/2024/02/alkaline-electrolysers-powering-future.html
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CIP Buys Ørsted EU Onshore Wind
Allen covers CIP’s €1.44 billion buyout of Ørsted’s European onshore wind, the new Perigus Energy name, and Vestas paying €506 million for its stake in the firm.
Sign up now for Uptime Tech News, our weekly newsletter on all things wind technology. This episode is sponsored by Weather Guard Lightning Tech. Learn more about Weather Guard’s StrikeTape Wind Turbine LPS retrofit. Follow the show on YouTube, Linkedin and visit Weather Guard on the web. And subscribe to Rosemary’s “Engineering with Rosie” YouTube channel here. Have a question we can answer on the show? Email us!
In Denmark, there is an old expression. “What goes around comes around.” The founders of Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners — known in the industry simply as CIP — know exactly what that means.
Back in 2012, four executives were fired from DONG Energy, the Danish energy giant that would later rebrand itself as Ørsted. Their offense? Their paychecks were considered too large. So large that DONG Energy’s own CEO was forced out as well. Four men shown the door were. A year later, a woman joined them from that same company. The Danish press had a name for these five. They called them “the golden birds.”
With six billion Danish krone from the pension fund PensionDanmark, they launched what is now one of the world’s largest clean energy fund managers.
In 2020, turbine maker Vestas purchased a 25 percent stake in CIP. The deal included a performance-based earn-out arrangement. This week, the books revealed the size of that windfall.
The five partners have now collected a combined 1.8 billion Danish krone — roughly 240 million euros. Vestas expects to make one final payment of 71 million euros this year. Including interest, Vestas will have paid 506 million euros for its stake in CIP. Not a bad return for a group of people who were shown the door.
And. This week, CIP completed its acquisition of Ørsted’s European onshore wind business for 1.44 billion euros. They renamed it Perigus Energy. The new company holds 826 megawatts of wind and solar capacity, operating in Ireland, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Spain.
Let that circle close. The executives fired from DONG Energy — the company that became Ørsted — just bought Ørsted’s business.
Meanwhile, CIP’s annual report for 2025 tells the story of a company in transition. Profit for the year came in at 561 million Danish krone, down from 683 million the year before. The employee count fell by nearly a fifth, to 441 people. And yet, their CI Five fund closed this year at 12.3 billion euros — the largest greenfield renewable infrastructure fund ever raised. Looking ahead, CIP expects profit of 600 to 800 million Danish krone in 2026 as new fund closings take shape.
So the picture this week is this. The men and women once considered overpaid, at a company that no longer carries the same name, have built the world’s largest greenfield renewable energy fund. And they now own a piece of the legacy that fired them.
The golden birds are still flying.
And that is the wind energy news for the fourth of May, 2026. Join us for more on the Uptime Wind Energy Podcast.
Here’s Lucy Biggers, social media powerhouse, explaining how solar and wind energy actually aren’t free, because they require materials that need to be mined from the Earth.
Yes, Lucy. I think most of us already knew that.
It’s hard for me to understand how a person with zero training in science has any relevance to what climate scientists are telling us. If I want a good recipe for carrot soup, I don’t ask a baseball coach or an auto mechanic.
They call this woman an “influencer.” What type of idiot does she influence?
Yes, part of this is stupidity. But a larger part is that people who still support Trump at this point are desperate to believe whatever comes out of his mouth, regardless of how nonsensical it may be.
I wish my mother were still here so I could see where she would stand. She was extremely well-educated, and a voracious reader, but somehow remained a Fox News viewer until the end. I just wonder if the last 15 months may have turned her around.
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