Cummins Inc. (Indianapolis, Ind.) will expand PEM electrolyzer manufacturing capacity at its Oevel, Belgium, factory to 1 gigawatt (GW) with the support from the Important Project of Common European Interest (IPCEI) Hy2Tech program. IPCEI – recently approved by the European Commission, with funding granted by Flanders Innovation & Entrepreneurship Agency (VLAIO) – will help Cummins develop a new generation of PEM electrolyzer cell stacks to power large-scale hydrogen production systems.
By scaling manufacturing capacity, Cummins will continue to drive the green hydrogen economy in Europe and globally, able to support new infrastructure projects and advance government decarbonization goals.
“Innovation is key in this fast-growing market, and Europe has the unique opportunity to become the technology, design and production hub for hydrogen generation equipment,” said Alexey Ustinov, Vice President of Electrolyzers at Cummins. “This funding from IPCEI is important for the entire hydrogen value chain and proves that Cummins is on the right track to drive the hydrogen economy forward. Continuously accelerating R&D capabilities and increasing our manufacturing capacity will help us respond to growing market demand in Europe and globally.”
The expansion in Belgium adds to Cummins’ already scaling global electrolyzer manufacturing footprint. The company has added capacity at its Mississauga, Canada, facility and is building two new electrolyzer factories in Spain and China, each starting at 500MW of manufacturing capacity and scalable to 1GW.
IPCEI Hy2Tech includes 41 projects from 35 companies in 15 European countries.
“Promoting hydrogen development and deployment will boost jobs and growth throughout Europe while contributing to our green and resilience agenda,” said Thierry Breton, EU Commissioner for the internal market. “It enables the clean transition of energy-intensive industries and increases our independence from fossil fuels. With this IPCEI, we see EU hydrogen production moving ‘from lab to fab,’ and our industry turning technological mastery into commercial leadership. And of course, we are not only supporting hydrogen through funding. We have also made decisive progress on building partnerships through the Clean Hydrogen Alliance and are developing EU-wide rules for enabling the hydrogen market and creating dedicated infrastructure.”