(Herten) – The US manufacturer of diesel and gas engines Cummins Inc. has put a production center for hydrogen fuel cell systems into operation in Herten, North Rhine-Westphalia. According to the company, the facility has an initial development and assembly capacity of ten megawatts per year. Herten complements the existing locations for alternative drives in Great Britain, Belgium and Germany, explained Cummins.
The factory will initially focus on supplying PEM fuel cell systems for the “Coradia iLint” from the French railway manufacturer Alstom. The hydrogen trains have already been and are being tested in pilot operations in Europe, including in Germany, Austria, Italy, Poland, the Netherlands and France.
Stacks will also be maintained in the future
The 4.300 square meter factory is located in a special hydrogen park in Herten. It is equipped with a hydrogen storage system, a hydrogen detection system and safety devices. In the future, Cummins also wants to overhaul and maintain fuel cell stacks there and set up additional test stations.
To date, Cummins says it has provided more than 2.000 fuel cell systems, 600 electrolyzers and 500 battery-electric powertrains worldwide. Among other things, the company developed the drive for a 75-passenger vehicle Ferry in San Francisco, California, as well as one hydrogen filling station for ships, cars, trucks and industrial customers in Antwerp, Belgium.
The company's product range includes diesel, natural gas, electric and hybrid drives as well as drive-related components. Cummins is headquartered in Columbus, Indiana (USA), and employs approximately 57.800 people worldwide; In Europe there are more than 7.000 at nine production sites and more than 25 sales, spare parts and administration locations. In 2020, group sales were around $1,8 billion.
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The new fuel cell factory in Herten begins operations. © Cummins Inc.
Very interesting article for a hydrogen industry that is currently growing rapidly! Is there more background information on the activities in Herten? At the moment, the reports on this are very limited.