(Latham, USA / Duisburg, Germany) – Plug Power Inc. is building its new European headquarters in the port of Duisburg. The US manufacturer of fuel cell systems and provider of hydrogen solutions wants to invest there “in the development of the European ecosystem for green hydrogen”. The company, which says it has been active in Europe for more than ten years, is thereby accelerating its market penetration.
Connection to the supply chains in Europe
Duisburg offers the company a direct connection to the maritime supply chain to Antwerp (Belgium) and Rotterdam (Netherlands) and enables Plug Power to “benefit from the great advantages of the Duisburg industrial area”, including a high concentration of logistics and transport customers and a highly qualified workforce . Duisburg is also being expanded into one of the three hydrogen strongholds in Germany, which will give the city “a crucial role in the German energy transition”. Plug Power intends to “play an important role in the development of green hydrogen in Europe and make a significant contribution to the European hydrogen strategy,” said Andy Marsh, managing director of Plug Power.
“Hydrogen is a crucial building block for the industrial and logistics sector in North Rhine-Westphalia and the port of Duisburg,” explained Markus Bangen, Managing Director of Duisburger Hafen AG (Duisport), and emphasized the importance of the settlement for the port and the region. Two-thirds of the property is owned by the state of North Rhine-Westphalia and one-third by the city of Duisburg.
Growth plans in Europe
An innovation center with technology laboratories, a monitoring, diagnostics and technical support center, an electrolyzer for producing green hydrogen, a storage and logistics center and a training room are being built on an area of around 6.500 square meters. The extensive logistics areas of the Duisburg port provide space for expansion and enabled the company to realize its rapid growth plans in Europe.
The North Rhine-Westphalia Ministry of Economic Affairs confirmed the plan to settle in the Ruhr area in response to a PtX request September, However, at the time, neither the company nor the North Rhine-Westphalia Ministry for Economic Affairs, Innovation, Digitalization and Energy named specific locations. The announcement came during a meeting between Andy Marsh and Economics Minister Andreas Pinkwart in Washington.
deep link
https://www.ir.plugpower.com/Press-Releases/Press-Release-Details/2021/Plug-Power-Selects-Germanys-Port-of-Duisburg-as-Location-of-European-Headquarters/default.aspx
https://www.duisport.de/pressemeldungen/
Photos
Duisburg harbor. © Duisburger Hafen AG (Duisport)
