HEBE Network: Innovative Partnership in Clean Hydrogen Storage Revolutionizes the Aerospace Sector
The DAIR Green Fund has proven to be a vital resource to small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in accelerating innovation forward within southern Ontario’s aerospace sector. The Green Fund supports our SMEs in achieving a higher technology readiness level (TRL) with eventual commercialization and fostering partnerships with industry leaders and/or academia.
The need and interest for such an initiative has been recognized by SMEs that applied in masses to this selective program, which is supported by the Government of Canada through the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario).
Enzo Cavaliere is on a remarkable journey to revolutionize the aerospace sector with clean hydrogen storage innovation. As founder and CEO of HEBE Network, Cavaliere is using his passion for technology and engineering to realize a greener and more sustainable economy.
This ambition has been made possible through the HEBE Network partnership with Downsview Aerospace Innovation & Research (DAIR). DAIR, a non-profit consortium operating from Downsview Park in Toronto, Ontario, energizes the innovation ecosystem by bringing together start-ups and high-potential businesses such as HEBE with leading aerospace companies and post-secondary institutions. Through the DAIR Green Fund, they share a common goal of accelerating innovation-led growth by advancing technology readiness and supporting transformative companies with a goal of greening the economy by reducing aviation emissions.
The HEBE mission is bold: to become the leading provider of underground, purpose-built, pressurized zero carbon hydrogen storage at scale. With the DAIR Green Fund, the HEBE team is proactively solving hydrogen infrastructure problems by developing an accessible, green hydrogen storage solution that is three to five times more cost-effective, has an 80 percent lower carbon footprint, and is significantly safer than conventional industry practices. Notable progress in renewables, electrification of mobility and lithium battery energy storage over the previous 10 years, has invigorated industry to look at large investments in hydrogen technology because it is widely accepted for its extraordinary potential to make a substantial impact on greening our economy, and it can be implemented across all sectors.
The HEBE initiative is focused on introducing a safer, simplified, green hydrogen production process worldwide. Globally, green hydrogen adoption requires continued cost reductions in renewables (solar and wind), significant investment in the mass commercialization of electrolysers, and innovations in the process of ‘storage of pressurized hydrogen’. HEBE is intent on disrupting the legacy carbon steel or composite hydrogen cylinder marketplace with its proprietary HEBE CELL ‘vaults’, made of an epoxy and aggregate mixture, providing a cheaper solution that enables scaling and offers a significantly safer design. Multiple ‘vaults’ can be networked to create more power as required.
The DAIR Green Fund supports the development of HEBE’s groundbreaking clean technology over several phases. In the initial phase, HEBE focused on designing, testing, and analyzing the HEBE Cell pressure vessel prototype. With funding from DAIR, HEBE is actively working with partners to develop and test the minimum viable product (MVP) of its storage system. The team is set on validating a safer, simplified, green hydrogen production process and storage system with less environmental impact, improved land use, and significantly lower costs than found in today’s market. The team targets a TRL 7 by the end of the project. By assessing the performance and reliability of the innovative green hydrogen storage solution, the HEBE Network aims to prove the solutions’ feasibility and pave the way for its commercialization into multiple sectors.
HEBE is looking to integrate its underground storage solution with renewable energy, electrolysis, and fuel cells, to create a fully integrated hydrogen fueling station of the future. By avoiding mechanical compression and conventional storage materials, HEBE has set itself apart in the market. HEBE aims to reduce capital and operating expenditures to safely produce and store green hydrogen, remove the constraints of hydrogen storage hubs, and decrease the land footprint needed for above-ground storage stations. With successful prototype testing and ongoing collaboration with a manufacturing partner, HEBE is validating its ability to scale the solution at a reasonable cost.
In a future where fully integrated electric vehicle (EV) and hydrogen fueling stations would utilize HEBE’s proprietary underground storage, the long-term outlook is promising. Armed with determination, partnerships, and the support of the DAIR community, Cavaliere and the HEBE Network team are confident they will play a vital role in shaping a greener and more sustainable economy.
“Working with DAIR has been incredibly positive for our company. As a young company, bootstrapping to where we are now has been great – with the Green Fund we have reignited the mission, formed new partnerships and advanced our prototyping of the technology towards achieving TRL 7. We’re rapidly putting the HEBE Cell through its design phases for the global green market to positively impact our environment.”
Enzo Cavaliere
Founder & CEO, HEBE