WhiskHy project highlights major milestone for green hydrogen and whisky
Supercritical Solutions Ltd, a leading innovator in renewable hydrogen technology, have announced the successful completion of the ground-breaking WhiskHy project, a collaborative effort with Suntory Global Spirits and the Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC).
The project leveraged Supercritical’s game-changing electrolyser, which offers a unique set of advantages over traditional systems including lower Levelised Cost of Hydrogen (LCOH); minimising the need for multi-stage hydrogen compression; and a steady, reliable supply of fuel thanks to the removal of membranes, a frequent point of "cliff-edge" failure in electrolysers.
The WhiskHy project was supported by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ). Funded by a £2.94 million award as part of the UK government’s £1 billion Net Zero Innovation Portfolio (NZIP), the Green Distilleries Programme supported innovation targeted at helping the distilleries sector decarbonise.
Image courtesy of ©Supercritical Solutions
The WhiskHy project demonstrates two key achievements: the first-ever direct-fired hydrogen-distilled spirit for whisky production and the scale-up of Supercritical’s technology from the lab to a multi-cell system. Trials conducted at Suntory Global Spirits’ Yamazaki Pilot Distillery in Japan proved that hydrogen can safely replace natural gas as a direct-firing fuel, with a preliminary assessment showing no notable difference in spirit quality. This represents a significant stride toward preserving traditional whisky-making techniques while achieving net-zero ambitions.
The government-backed project provided the critical platform to scale Supercritical’s ultra-efficient electrolyser technology from a lab-based curiosity to being validated in an industrial environment whilst ensuring its manufacturability. The Teesside 1 (TS1) demonstrator, a direct result of this project, achieved an impressive TRL 5 (Technology Readiness Level) in 2024 which showed a near-perfect translation of lab performance, achieving 95% of its operating comparator. Supercritical continues to advance its dedicated demonstration unit in Teesside, U.K., which remains the country’s hub for energy transition and where Supercritical continues to grow its team of highly skilled workers in the industry.
Luke Tan, Chief Product Officer at Supercritical, said: "We are incredibly proud of what the WhiskHy partnership has achieved. The funding from DESNZ and the collaboration with Suntory Global Spirits and MTC allowed us to accelerate our technology development by years. HM Gov cannot underestimate the value that their support offers novel technologies. We’ve now secured more than five times their original government investment from private markets and employ over 40 highly skilled people in the UK across our two sites in London and Teesside. Poised to deliver to a global market, generating significant value from wherever we operate, we hope the UK continues its support of innovation and the green hydrogen sector.’
The world-first hydrogen fired whisky created from this partnership is now maturing and has proven that this method can deliver the same high quality product. The collaboration between Supercritical and Suntory Global Spirits is set to continue and further pave the way for green distilleries. The two partners have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to pursue further investigations into the potential use of hydrogen as a means to decarbonise malt distilling processes.
For more information, visit www.supercritical.solutions.