Swiss Hydrogen, a manufacturer of fuel cell systems, has a new owner. Groupe E, an energy provider based in Switzerland, announced in late 2017 that it had sold its stake in the company to Plastic Omnium, a French supplier of auto parts. The latter also acquired the shares held by others, namely entrepreneur Marco Simeoni, venture capital firm Capital Risque Fribourg and the Paul Scherrer Institute, also known as PSI.
Nevertheless, Swiss Hydrogen’s CEO, Alexandre Closset, said in an interview that his company would continue to work in close collaboration with the institute. “In fact, our business only survived because we were able to assemble and test systems at the Paul Scherrer Institute. […] PSI is recognized for its fuel cell expertise not just in Switzerland but all around the world. The partnership with the institute will remain our most important research collaboration.” Swiss Hydrogen was founded in 2008 as a subsidiary of Belenos Clean Power. It offers both electrolyzers and fuel cells for mobile and stationary applications. One example of its work is the hydrogen truck used in a project by Swiss retail chain Coop (see H2-international, October 2017).
