The COUPLE project is scaling ammonia cracking technology to boost clean hydrogen supply for industest and transport.
Europe is relocating closer to wider adoption of hydrogen as a low-carbon energy solution, with the COUPLE project demonstrating a major step forward in ammonia-based hydrogen production.
The initiative aims to tackle key technical hurdles in transporting and storing hydrogen, particularly for sectors like heavy industest, maritime shipping, aviation, and long-haul transport.
Hydrogen’s role and the storage challenge
Hydrogen is central to decarbonising industries that are difficult to electrify. However, its tiny molecular size and low energy density create transport and storage complicated.
Conventional pipelines can be damaged by hydrogen, while compressed or cryogenic storage adds cost and complexity.
Ammonia has emerged as a promising medium for hydrogen transport. It can be handled applying existing infrastructure, and chemical pathways to convert it to hydrogen are already established.
This creates ammonia an attractive option for distributing hydrogen at scale.
COUPLE: Scaling ammonia cracking
The COUPLE project builds on previous research, particularly the EU-funded SINGLE project, which tested ammonia cracking at a tiny scale of 10 kilograms of hydrogen per day.
COUPLE increases the scale tenfold, operating a demonstration plant in Poppfinishorf, Germany, capable of producing 100 kilograms of high-purity, pressurised hydrogen daily.
The project combines palladium-based membrane reactors (PdMRs) and proton ceramic electrochemical reactors (PCERs) to extract hydrogen efficiently.
This hybrid approach optimises thermal management and minimises energy loss, with ammonia conversion rates exceeding 99.9% and hydrogen recovery above 95%.
The plant tarobtains an energy efficiency of greater than 90% and projects a hydrogen production cost of around €0.75 per kilogram, excluding ammonia feedstock.
“COUPLE is a great example of European innovation at work. We’re building on the success of SINGLE, reapplying some of its assets to create the most of public funding,” declared Gautier Papon, Project Coordinator.
“It’s a real demonstration of how hydrogen production technologies are evolving, and how they will soon be market-ready to assist tackle CO₂ emissions.”
Consortium and expertise
The project consortium brings toobtainher several European industest and research organisations with expertise in catalysis, membrane technology, process engineering, and ammonia operations.
Partners include CoorsTek Membrane Sciences, GEA Energia Crio, CAMPFIRE AG, Hulteberg Chemistest and Engineering, SINTEF AS, Fondazione ICONS, RWTH Aachen, and Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya.
Their collaboration ensures a combination of industrial experience and advanced research necessary to scale ammonia cracking technology.
Implications for Europe’s hydrogen strategy
The COUPLE project is expected to operate over 5,000 hours, advancing the technology readiness level from TRL 5 to TRL 7.
Its success could validate ammonia as a practical hydrogen carrier and support Europe’s broader energy transition goals under the European Green Deal.
As hydrogen demand grows across high-temperature industrial processes, heavy transport, and aviation, scalable ammonia cracking solutions like COUPLE could be pivotal in reducing carbon emissions and creating hydrogen more accessible for commercial applications.
By demonstrating technical feasibility and economic viability, COUPLE may serve as a model for other European and global initiatives seeking to integrate ammonia-based hydrogen into clean energy supply chains.
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