Boson Energy and Siemens have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to collaborate on technology that converts non-recyclable waste into clean energy. The MoU was signed during the ACHEMA Fair in Frankfurt by Axel Lorenz, CEO for Process Automation, and in advance by Stephan May, CEO for Electrification and Automation at Siemens. 

As part of this, Boson Energy plans to integrate its Hydrogen by Plasma Assisted Gasification (HPAG) technology into an ‘energy hub’ solution that realises the important circular hydrogen potential of waste. In the HPAG system, drying, slow pyrolysis, gasification, and vitrification happen with a slow temperature gradient driven by gravity rather than moving parts. As a last step, plasma vitrification is applied to the ash. Plasma is used only as heat source for the process and for ash vitrification after completion of the gasification stage . This means that the plasma assists the gasification rather than driving it directly to minimise carbon combustion in the process, resulting in a high hydrogen yield.

The hydrogen produced is foreseen as supporting off-grid applications such as fast charging and facilitates more reliable grid operations, and if successful could presumably be used for other applications such as industrial hydrogen production.

Boson Energy is targeting more than 300 plants in order to produce 1 MtH2/y from waste by 2030 – avoiding up to 30 MtCO2/yr. Starting in Sweden, Poland, and Germany, then continuing throughout Europe, Boson Energy is aiming for a global presence. 

“We are excited to join forces with Siemens in our ambition to make a difference in society and support global decarbonisation with our Waste-to-X solution,” said Jan Grimbrandt, CEO of Boson Energy. “Siemens, with its unique capabilities of people and technology, gives Boson Energy ‘unlimited’ capacity to scale and reach markets from Berlin to Delhi and beyond – from day one.”