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Cummins has opened a location in Europe. On March 3rd, 2022, the US engine manufacturer put its new fuel cell factory in Herten into operation. Cummins had taken over the Hydrogenics Corp. and with it the German branch Hydrogenics GmbH in the summer of 2019, which had been located in Gladbeck and is now in the HTVG (Gesellschaft für Technologieentwicklung und Vermögensverwaltung der Stadt Herten mbH) technology development center H2Herten. 

In the virtual presence of Nordrhein-Westfalen’s Minister-President Hendrik Wüst, the vice president of Cummins, Amy M. Adams, stated: “Europe is an important region for the global hydrogen economy, in which many governments are pursuing hydrogen strategies and creating incentives for the decarbonization of the transport sector and other industries. We are further expanding our presence in Europe to bring more fuel cells into use and to ease the transition to zero-emission vehicles for our customers.” 

The new 4,200-square-meter (45,000-square-foot) production center at the site of the former coal mine Ewald has an initial capacity of 10 MW available for the PEM fuel cell modules, which will primarily be for Alstom’s Coradia iLint trains. According to information provided by Cummins, the building was erected by HTVG in only ten months. HTVG, as a subsidiary of the city of Herten, supervises, among others, the center for hydrogen projects H2Herten and is now leasing the new building to the US company. 

Dr. Bernd Pitschak, managing director of Hydrogenics GmbH, was pleased that the site had only been moved 20 km to the east so the good, established relationship with the region could be maintained.