Woodside-backed 1414 Degrees launches hydrogen production project
One of the country’s largest gas companies is bankrolling a hydrogen generation project from Adelaide-based tech innovator 1414 Degrees.
An investment from Woodside will help bring 1414 Degrees' hydrogen production ambitions to life. Photo: 1414 Degrees on Facebook.
A $1 million contribution from Woodside – a leading Australian oil and gas company – will kickstart ASX-listed 1414 Degrees’ hydrogen generation ambitions.
Announced today, the contribution will help fund 1414 Degrees’ SiPHyR project, designed to produce hydrogen and solid carbon via a process called methane pyrolysis.
Earlier this year 1414 Degrees acquired exclusive rights to the new method for producing net zero hydrogen from natural gas which the University of Adelaide developed.
SiPHyR (SiBrick integrated Pyrolytic Hydrogen Reactor) combines methane pyrolysis – a high-temperature process that turns methane into hydrogen gas and solid carbon – with 1414 Degree’s proprietary silicon energy storage technologies.
The Tonsley-headquartered firm said the process integrates the licenced designs from the University of Adelaide with its own silicon-based thermal energy storage technology to enable continuous hydrogen production from intermittent renewable energy.
1414 Degrees executive chairman Dr Kevin Moriarty said the Woodside investment underscored the oil giant’s commitment to advancing lower-carbon energy solutions.
“The signing of the agreement is a critical milestone,” Moriarty said.
“The contribution from Woodside will support the integration of our silicon thermal energy storage with a new fluid reactor technology to potentially reduce hydrogen production costs and emissions.”
The company said the SiPHyR project was still in an early stage and it would take about three years for it to be in a state that it can be demonstrated.
If successful, the firm hopes its production process would be cost-competitive to current emissions-intensive methods and that the tech could “decarbonise natural gas by removing carbon directly from pipeline gas”.
The $1 million funding for the SiPHyR project is just its latest monetary contribution by Woodside to 1414 Degrees, following a $2.75 million investment in the company’s SiBox Demonstration Module (SDM) project.
SDM is an extension of 1414’s proprietary silicon thermal energy research, whereby energy can be stored thanks to silicon’s high-temperature storage density “with a smaller footprint, without need for constant power input”.
1414 Degrees’ technology stores energy generated from electricity or gas as thermal energy by heating and melting containers full of silicon. Energy can then be supplied as heat and electricity in the proportions consumers require.
