The STELAH project, driven by Técnicas Reunidas, Matteco, the Technological Institute for Children’s Products and Leisure (AIJU), and the University of Valencia, has achieved decisive strategic results in its first year of execution for the development of new catalysts, electrodes, and configurations of next-generation alkaline electrolysis stacks that are more efficient for producing renewable hydrogen.
In this way, STELAH moves toward its goal: making green hydrogen a more sustainable and competitive alternative. The consortium aims to accelerate the market arrival of highly efficient, scalable electrolyzers, essential to reducing costs and contributing to the decarbonization of industries and long-distance transport.
The joint work focuses on developing and validating high-performance electrodes—both anodes and cathodes—along with optimized stacks capable of delivering superior performance compared to currently available alkaline electrolysis technologies.
Milestone Achieved: Higher-Performance, Sustainable, and Scalable Materials
The Matteco team has developed new advanced combinations of catalytic materials for anode and cathode composition, characterized and validated by the University of Valencia.
These new formulations, which avoid the use of scarce and critical materials such as platinum derivatives, exhibit greater electrochemical activity and improved stability—essential factors for continuous electrolysis in industrial operating environments. In addition, they have been scaled to the size planned for this phase of the project.
Meanwhile, the teams from Técnicas Reunidas and AIJU have evaluated the electrodes with different substrates in a precursor stack setup. The results have been satisfactory: they confirm the feasibility of the new material combinations under representative operating conditions and their scaling potential.
These results pave the way for the next milestone: integrating the optimized materials into cell prototypes and modular stacks at the final planned size.
A Key Project for the Hydrogen Economy and Energy SovereigntySTELAH está financiado STELAH is funded by the Valencian Innovation Agency (IVACE+i) and the European Union through the FEDER program, with total support of €903,513.17.
The four partners combine cutting-edge research in advanced materials, electrochemical engineering, and the development of modular architectures aimed at industrial scalability. Their progress helps strengthen the positioning of the Valencian Community and Spain as strategic hubs in the development of key technologies for the hydrogen economy.
In doing so, STELAH is fully aligned with the European Hydrogen Strategy and the electrolysis deployment targets for 2030.
ABOUT THE STELAH PROJECT
STELAH, an acronym for High-Efficiency Alkaline Electrolysis Stack for Renewable Hydrogen Production, (in Spanish: ‘STack de ELectrólisis Alcalina de alta eficiencia para la obtención de Hidrógeno renovable’), aims to design and validate more efficient and scalable catalysts and electrodes—both anodes and cathodes—for integration into next-generation alkaline electrolysis stacks, reducing dependence on critical metals and improving the efficiency and durability of current systems..
Member partners:
- Técnicas Reunidas: leading company in engineering and energy solutions development.
- Matteco: a deep-tech company focused on advanced materials for green hydrogen
- Instituto Tecnológico de Producto Infantil y Ocio (AIJU): a technology center specialized in the design and validation of new technologies and materials.
- Instituto de Ciencia Molecular (ICMol) de la Universitat de València: a research team specialized in materials science and electrocatalysis
The project is supported by the Valencian Innovation Agency (IVACE+i) and co-financed by the European Union through the FEDER program.
