Fuel cell industry grows despite COVID-19

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E4tech Fuel Cell Industry Review

In March 2021, the new Fuel Cell Industry Review 2020 was published, complete with market data and detailed analysis. Since 2014, the team led by E4tech has been contacting fuel cell companies from across the globe, aggregating their shipment figures and producing an independent report each year on the current state of the fuel cell sector. Several extracts are provided here.

2020 was not the year many of us expected. But despite the very difficult situation brought about by COVID-19, fuel cell shipments continued to rise. The increase was much less than we anticipated at the end of 2019, both because of supply chain disruption and local economic slowdown, but is a very encouraging sign.

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Weichai Power – China’s largest diesel engine manufacturer on the fuel cell highway

The company Weichai Power, which I’ve so far only mentioned in this column as partnering Ballard, has a revenue around the EUR 20 billion mark and a stock market valuation of the same order. In 2020, a good EUR 1 billion was marked up as profit, with dividends also paid out. Weichai Power has several bus brands to its name and is the nation’s largest diesel engine manufacturer; it has clearly recognized the potential offered by fuel cells in the commercial vehicle sector and, in its own words, is intent on becoming the market leader.

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Very good to know

Fuel cell stack monitoring

ZSW
Testing a 95-kilowatt fuel cell suitable for vehicle integration
© ZSW

A fuel cell stack is a living organism and individual cell voltages report its vital signs. Which is why fuel cell vehicles are usually equipped with a monitoring system promptly drawing attention to critical operating conditions and enabling immediate response. It is absolutely necessary to reduce system costs before mass production can begin. Automated installations is a good place to start.

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Cummins to start production in Herten

Cummins manufacturing facility
© Cummins

In mid-November 2020, diesel and gas engine maker Cummins, which has more than 6,700 employees in Europe, announced plans to erect a production site above Germany’s defunct Ewald mine in Herten. The decision was not surprising. Hydrogenics Germany lies a mere 20 kilometers west of Herten, and Cummins acquired parent company Hydrogenics Corp. in September 2019.

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Feeling like a pioneer

A comfortable (yet still exciting) ride

Sven Geitmann loads an Hyundai Nexo
Loading a Nexo

So far, Hyundai has shipped a total of 10,000 Nexo cars. Since launching a fuel cell model in March 2018, the South Korean automaker has delivered more FCEVs than any other vehicle manufacturer in the world. This July alone, an additional 700 Nexo vehicles went to customers in South Korea and 89 were exported to countries around the world. H2-international was given the opportunity to test a Nexo car this summer. The conclusion: If it had a lower price tag and there was a fueling station nearby, the Nexo would be the perfect ride.

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Balancing act between commercialisation and project business

E4tech

The new Fuel Cell Industry Review 2019 withmarket data and analyses was published in January 2020. Since 2014, E4tech’s team has been contacting fuel cell companies worldwide to build it, aggregating their supply figures and creating an independent annual reference point on the current state of the fuel cell industry. Some excerpts are presented below.

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Hyundai Exec Co-Chairs Hydrogen Council

Eui-sun Chung, Hyundai
Eui-sun Chung, © Hyundai

In January, Eui-sun Chung, the executive vice chairman of Hyundai Motor Company, was named co-chair of the Hydrogen Council. He now heads the organization together with Benoît Potier, Air Liquide’s chief executive and chairman of the council since its founding in 2017. Both stressed the import of creating a zero-carbon hydrogen society.

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Fuel Cell Incentive at 40 Percent

Hyundai
Hyundai ix35 Fuel Cell – less expensive than you may have thought

“Fuel cell cars are too expensive – and there’s no refueling infrastructure either.” You may hear a sentence like this one many times over. Both German-language magazine HZwei and English-language e-journal H2-international have reported regularly about new hydrogen filling stations (e.g., October 2017 issue of H2-international). So, let’s look at the price, which might be much lower than many Germans believe. If you factor in available incentives, an FCV such as the Honda Clarity Fuel Cell would cost only around EUR 42,000

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Hyundai Unveils FE Fuel Cell

Hyundai
© Hyundai

At the Geneva International Motor Show, Korean carmaker Hyundai unveiled its new fuel cell concept study, the FE Fuel Cell Concept. It offers a glimpse into the fourth vehicle generation boasting much higher output and an extended range. The fuel cell unit is said to be twenty per cent lighter and ten per cent more efficient than in previous models, which would raise energy density by thirty per cent.

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Growing H2 Infrastructure But Not All Stations Operational

AL_Hyundai_Offenbach_web
H2 station in Offenbach, © Air Liquide

After one hydrogen filling station had each been installed in Wuppertal and Ulm in summer 2016, another three went into operation last fall. As reported previously (see Three New Hydrogen Filling Stations), the H2 pump at the Metzingen gas station south of Stuttgart came online on Sept. 23. Five days later, however, it had to be shut down again when a truck hit it. Its trailer had been caught in the pump, resulting in at least EUR 60,000 in damage.

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