Electrochaea is commercializing a grid-scale energy storage solution. Their proprietary power-to-gas (P2G) process converts renewable energy and carbon dioxide into grid-quality renewable methane for storage and distribution. Their pilot plants have injected renewable methane into commercial gas grids in Switzerland and Denmark.

Using their process, renewable methane is synthesized from CO2 and H2 by their patented biocatalyst, a selectively evolved microorganism – a methanogenic archaea. Pipeline-grade methane is produced in their scalable methanation system for injection into the gas grid or immediate use. CO2 can be recycled from any source such as anaerobic digestors, landfills, dairies, fermentation facilities or industrial processes. Renewable H2 can be generated from renewable electricity by electrolysis, or from other wasted sources.

The company states that the nature of their biocatalyst enables their patented methanation technology to operate at lower capital and operating costs and with greater flexibility than conventional thermochemical methanation processes. The biocatalyst is compatible with variable duty cycles and common impurities in CO2 sources. P2G energy storage enables practically unlimited storage capacity via existing gas grid infrastructure. And the scalable process enables a broad range of applications.

Electrochaea GmbH is a company with headquarters, engineering and development teams in Munich, Germany. Electrochaea’s subsidiaries are located in Denmark and in California, USA.

Electrochaea provides the proprietary system design and engineering and oversees the construction and design of structures for the storage of gas, liquid fuels and electricity.

Electrochaea’s two-step biomethanation process starts with the production of hydrogen by electrolysis using renewable power. The renewable hydrogen is combined with carbon dioxide and fed into the reactor which houses the biocatalyst – a methanogenic archaea. The product that leaves the reactor is renewable methane. The archaea does the job of synthesizing methane from the two substrates, hydrogen and carbon dioxide. The renewable methane and water are the products of the reaction.

Electrochaea employs a patented biocatalyst to convert renewable electricity and carbon dioxide into pipeline-grade renewable gas. This gas can be directly injected into the existing natural gas grid or used immediately. The core of their power-to-gas (P2G) technology is the proprietary biocatalyst that can be deployed in a simple and cost-effective energy conversion system.

Electrochaea’s proprietary biocatalyst is a selectively evolved – not genetically modified – strain of methanogenic archaea, a single-celled microorganism that has populated Earth for billions of years. These organisms can be found in a broad range of habitats, including some of the most extreme environments on the planet, such as volcanic hot springs, salt lakes, in addition to that, oceans and soils, among others. The strain of archaea used in their P2G process has been adapted for industrial application.

Their archaea exhibits several properties including high mass conversion efficiency, tolerance to many contaminants typically found in industrial CO2-sources (oxygen, hydrogen sulfide, particulates), high selectivity in methane production, and very fast reaction kinetics that enable scale-up to commercial application. In addition, the microorganisms are self-replicating and self-maintaining.

Pre-Commercial Project: With a grant of $1.2 million from the Danish Energy Agency (EUDP), they tested their P2G technology using a 10,000-liter reactor vessel and raw biogas as a CO2 source. The system ran continuously for more than 3,200 hours between August and December 2013 at Aarhus University’s Biogas Research Center in Foulum, Denmark. Electrochaea said that the project demonstrated the efficiency, productivity, robustness, and responsiveness of Electrochaea’s P2G technology.

BioCat Project: Electrochaea’s BioCat project has demonstrated commercial scale P2G technology to address Europe’s needs to integrate renewable power, gas and energy storage. The overall objective of the project was to design, engineer, and construct a commercial-scale P2G facility and show its capabilities to provide energy storage services to the Danish energy system.

Commercial Scale STORE&GO Project Electrochaea together with Regio Energie Solothurn (RES), the Hochschule für Technik Rapperswil (HSR), the Ecole polytechnique fédérale Lausanne (EPFL), the Eidgenössische Materialprüfungs- und Forschungsanstalt (EMPA) and the Swiss Gas and Water Industry Association (SVGW), built and operated a biomethanation plant in Solothurn, Switzerland. The automated plant, with a basis for design of 1 MW, could be operated remotely. The research facility was officially opened in January 2019. A few months later, in May 2019, renewable methane was produced for the first time and the injection into the Swiss gas network took place. The STORE&GO Project demonstrated that Electrochaea’s technology is ready for scale up and market entry.

The biocatalyst is available for commercial projects. Within the scope of these projects for the storage of gas, liquid fuels and electricity, Electrochaea provides the proprietary system design and engineering and oversees the construction and design of structures for the storage of gas, liquid fuels and electricity. Their services include system design, project management and system commissioning.