According to energynews.pro, electrolyser specialist Hystar has partnered with industrial manufacturing firm BHEL to manufacture PEM electrolysers in India. While project-specific production targets, capital expenditure figures, and deployment schedules have not been disclosed, the alliance represents a key step toward localizing PEM technology within a market historically reliant on imported stack hardware.
Stack Manufacturing and Balance-of-Plant Integration
PEM electrolysis systems operate at significantly higher current densities than traditional alkaline systems, typically requiring precision-engineered catalyst-coated membranes (CCMs), titanium-based porous transport layers, and corrosion-resistant bipolar plates. Establishing local manufacturing capability addresses key supply chain bottlenecks for project developers:
- Membrane-Electrode Assembly: High-precision stack assembly is critical to maintain uniform compression across cell active areas, preventing localized hot spots, differential pressure spikes, and premature polymer electrolyte degradation.
- Skid Packaging and BOP Sizing: Integrating stacks with domestic balance-of-plant (BOP) systems—including circulation pumps, gas-liquid separators, and de-oxygenation/drying units—reduces transport logistics for oversized modular skids.
- Stack Replacement Logistics: Having regional manufacturing and refurbishing capabilities lowers the levelized cost of hydrogen (LCOH) by reducing replacement stack lead times over a multi-year operating lifecycle.
Power Conditioning and Grid Interconnection Requirements
For plant engineers, PEM electrolysers offer distinct dynamic response advantages when coupled directly to variable renewable energy sources like wind and solar. Unlike alkaline systems that have narrower turndown ratios and slower ramp rates, PEM stacks can modulate across wide operating envelopes in fractions of a second.
However, realizing this flexibility requires robust power conditioning systems. The rectifiers supplying DC power to the PEM stack must deliver low current ripple; high harmonic distortion or excessive ripple can accelerate catalyst dissolution and degrade cell efficiency. Integrating industrial-grade power electronics, transformers, and harmonic mitigation filters at the substation interface ensures grid code compliance while maximizing stack electrical efficiency across dynamic operating cycles.
Water Treatment and Process Demands
PEM electrolysis imposes strict feed-water purity standards compared to alkaline chemistry, which is more forgiving of minor ionic impurities. The feed stream must be conditioned into ultrapure water to protect the solid polymer electrolyte:
- Demineralization Duty: Water treatment trains must utilize multi-stage reverse osmosis (RO) paired with continuous electro-deionization (CEDI) or mixed-bed ion exchange to achieve electrical resistivity above 1 to 10 megaohm-centimeters (MΩ·cm).
- Contaminant Control: Trace transition metals such as iron, copper, and nickel, as well as chlorides, must be strictly eliminated to prevent catalytic poisoning and membrane embrittlement.
- Thermal Management: PEM stacks reject heat at operating temperatures typically between 50°C and 80°C. Plant design must balance cooling water circuit sizing with potential waste-heat integration options for regional industrial off-takers.
For project developers evaluating hydrogen production in the region, domestic PEM assembly provides a path to optimize capital costs, lower logistics risks, and simplify long-term stack servicing regimes.
Source
This analysis was written from reporting by energynews.pro: Hystar and BHEL Partner to Manufacture PEM Electrolyzers in India, published 18 August 2026. Figures and events above are as reported there; the engineering commentary is ours.
