Safe
Hydrogen bound within solid materials under moderate conditions, avoiding high-pressure storage
Flagship research program
Solid-state hydrogen storage
Storing hydrogen inside solid materials instead of high-pressure tanks — safer, denser, and far easier to design into the systems that need it. An open research question, taken through modelling and materials work into instrumented test hardware.
- StageActive R&D and bench testing
- Research partnersNational Defence Canada (DND) · University of Calgary
- Core challengeMaterials selection and thermal management during uptake and release
- Target applicationsDefence platforms, remote & off-grid power, industrial systems, mobility
What it is
Hydrogen held in a solid, not squeezed into a tank
Conventional hydrogen storage compresses the gas to very high pressure or liquefies it at cryogenic temperature. Both work, and both bring consequences: heavy vessels, demanding safety cases, and a volume penalty that rules hydrogen out of a lot of otherwise sensible applications.
Solid-state storage takes a different route — hydrogen is absorbed into a solid material and held there under far gentler conditions, then released when heat is applied. The engineering difficulty moves from containing pressure to managing heat and material behaviour, which is precisely the kind of problem we are set up to work on.
- Improved safety by avoiding high-pressure storage
- Compact systems with greater volumetric energy density
- Simpler integration across diverse platforms
- Supports the shift to reliable, low-carbon energy
Design targets
What the system is being built to deliver
Compact
Higher volumetric density allows smaller, more integrated systems
Efficient
Heat management designed to reduce the external energy needed to release hydrogen
Scalable
Modular architecture for integration across a wide range of platforms
Secure
Suited to military and critical-infrastructure duty where failure is not an option
Partnerships
Research that isn't done alone
Serious materials work needs both an operational problem to aim at and academic depth behind it. This program has each.
National Defence Canada (DND)
Collaborating on solid-state hydrogen storage to support the energy needs of advanced military platforms, where safety and compactness are operational requirements rather than preferences.
University of Calgary
Partnering on the underlying research to advance hydrogen storage technology and shorten the distance between laboratory result and real-world deployment.
Applications
Where compact hydrogen changes the calculation
Military platforms
Reliable power for defence vehicles, UAVs and deployed field systems.
Remote & off-grid
Clean, dependable energy for isolated sites and critical infrastructure.
Industry & commercial
Material handling, backup power and continuous industrial operations.
Mobility
Compact hydrogen solutions where tank volume is the limiting constraint.
Interested in this technology for your program?
We work with defence, industrial and research organizations on integration studies, joint development and funded research. Tell us about the application.
Get in touch