Production of electrolysers has started at Cummins’ 500MW factory in Spain, the company’s plant director has revealed, making the US firm one of Europe’s largest suppliers of PEM equipment for green hydrogen.
Cummins began producing its proton exchange membrane (PEM) machines at the facility in Guadalajara, central Spain, in April, shortly after the company received its operation licence from the regional government, David Heredero Olayo, the site’s plant director told local newspaper SER.
The plant will be formally opened in October this year, he said.
The factory, first announced in 2021, was originally intended to be finished last year. Olayo gave no explanation for the delay — nor when he expects the plant to be operating at full 500MW capacity — but pointed out that construction of the 20,000 square-foot (1,858 square-metre) facility was completed in 14 months.
It now employs 65 people, he said, with more set to be hired in the second half of 2024.
“We are growing very fast,” he told the newspaper. “The forecast is that we will reach more than 100 people next year.”
Cummins says it has built the Guadalajara factory with the capability of scaling to 1GW which, if realised, would make the facility one of the biggest in Europe.
Currently, PEM electrolyser manufacturer 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.
Cummins has been contacted by Hydrogen Insight for comment.
