DESCRIPTION

Project Overview

WASTE2WATTS (W2W) is a Horizon 2020 / Clean Hydrogen Partnership funded project that designs, engineers and demonstrates an integrated biogas-Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) combined heat and power (CHP) system with minimal gas pre-processing.

The core focus is on low-cost biogas pollutant removal (H₂S, organic sulphur, siloxanes, VOCs) and optimal thermal system integration to maximize electrical and total efficiency while keeping capital and operational costs competitive.

        Key innovation: Two complementary cleaning approaches — one sorbent-based for small-scale units (5–50 kWe) and one cooling-based for medium-to-large scale (≥500 kWe) — enabling direct feeding of cleaned biogas to high-temperature SOFC without expensive traditional upgrading.
      

Objectives

Develop and validate low-cost biogas cleaning technologies suitable for SOFC operation
Achieve high electrical (>55%) and total CHP (>85%) efficiency through advanced thermal integration
Demonstrate real-world operation of a 5–10 kWe prototype on agricultural biogas sites
Deliver detailed techno-economic analysis, life-cycle assessment and exploitation plan
Facilitate market uptake of small-to-medium scale biogas-SOFC systems in Europe

Innovations & Approach

The project develops two distinct cleaning pathways:

Small-scale (5–50 kWe): Solid sorbent matrix for efficient removal of sulphur compounds — ideal for millions of unutilised farm-scale digesters
Medium-to-large scale (≥500 kWe): Novel cooling approach combined with selective adsorption for removal of sulphur, siloxanes and other contaminants — suited for landfill and large bio-waste plants

Both systems will be built, installed and tested on real biogas sites with different feedstocks. Gas composition analytics will validate performance. A 6 kWe SOFC stack from an industrial partner will be operated long-term (>1000 hours) on cleaned agricultural biogas.

Expected Results & Impact

By reducing CAPEX and OPEX by up to 40–60% compared to state-of-the-art solutions, WASTE2WATTS makes biogas-SOFC CHP economically attractive for distributed generation. The project will:

Unlock unused biogas potential in rural/agricultural areas
Contribute to EU decarbonisation and circular economy goals
Provide validated business models and LCA for investors and policy makers
Support replication across Europe through an Advisory Board of biogas-producing SMEs

Grant Agreement No. 826344 | Duration: 42 months | Coordinator: University of Chemistry and Technology Prague (UCT Prague)