Cummins cuts ribbon on 500MW hydrogen electrolyser factory in Spain
US engineering firm Cummins has officially cut the ribbon on its new 500MW green hydrogen electrolyser factory in Guadalajara in central Spain, the company announced today (Thursday).
The factory has been producing Cummins’ proton exchange membrane (PEM) machines since April 2024, after it was awarded an operation licence by the regional government.
However, it was originally intended to be finished last year following its announcement in 2021, and it is still not clear what has caused the delay.
Accelera, the zero-emissions business subsidiary of Cummins tasked with building and operating the factory, said today that it could also scale the factory to 1GW “in the future”, without giving a timeframe.
If realised, this would make it one of the biggest plants in Europe.
The 260,000 square-foot (24,154 square-metre) site produces up to 70% of its energy demand on-site, with the aid of around 3,000 rooftop solar panels and 100 geothermal points for renewable heating and cooling.
“The opening of our new electrolyser manufacturing plant in Europe is a significant milestone for Accelera and a crucial step in advancing global decarbonisation efforts,” said Amy Davis, president of Accelera. “Together with our community partners, we are boosting the local economy through job creation, enabling large-scale green hydrogen production, and building the necessary infrastructure to make hydrogen a reliable and affordable solution to decarbonise some of the most energy-intensive industries.”
PEM electrolyser manufacturer H-Tec Systems cut the ribbon on its own 5GW automated gigafactory in Germany on Monday, while fellow PEM maker ITM has a 1GW facility in the UK, while Norway’s Nel, which makes both alkaline and PEM machines is expanding its factory in Herøya, Norway, from 500MW to 1GW.
Germany’s Thyssenkrupp Nucera has electrolyser manufacturing capacity of 1GW for its alkaline machines, while compatriot Siemens also has a 1GW alkaline electrolyser factory that it opened in Berlin last year — which it says it can scale up to 3GW by 2025.
Source: Hydrogeninsight