{"id":242475,"date":"2023-05-04T09:05:49","date_gmt":"2023-05-04T13:05:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thedetroitbureau.com\/?p=242475"},"modified":"2023-05-04T09:06:00","modified_gmt":"2023-05-04T13:06:00","slug":"norways-nel-hydrogen-setting-up-400m-production-plant-in-michigan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/2023\/05\/norways-nel-hydrogen-setting-up-400m-production-plant-in-michigan\/","title":{"rendered":"Norway\u2019s Nel Hydrogen Setting up $400M Production Plant in Michigan"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A partnership with General Motors has Norway-based Nel Hydrogen investing $400 million in an electrolyser production plant in Michigan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Nel
Nel Hydrogen is setting up a $400 million facility in Michigan.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Nel develops the processes needed to produce, store and distribute hydrogen as a renewable fuel for motor vehicles, and is setting up shop in the Wolverine State, although a final location for the facility hasn\u2019t been made yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe choice of Michigan is based on an overall assessment of what the state can offer in terms of financial incentives, access to a highly skilled workforce, and cooperation with universities, research institutions, and strategic partners,\u201d said H\u00e5kon Volldal, the CEO of Nel. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Partnership with GM critical<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The company cited the proximity to Detroit-based GM as an additional deciding factor in the choice. The two companies collaborated last year to develop and improve Nel\u2019s proton exchange membrane, or PEM, electrolyzer technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last November, in a bid to accelerate the industrialization of its PEM electrolyzer platform, Nel Hydrogen U.S. entered into a joint development agreement with GM<\/a><\/u><\/strong>. By combining GM\u2019s fuel cell expertise and Nel\u2019s electrolyzer knowledge, the companies hope to enable more cost competitive sources of renewable hydrogen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"GM
General Motors’s coating machine in the fuel cell laboratory at the GM Global Propulsion Systems Pontiac Engineering Center.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAdding Nel as a strategic collaborator is an important step to help us commercialize fuel cell technology. Electrolysis is key to creating consistent, clean sources of hydrogen to power fuel cells,\u201d Charles Freese, executive director of GM\u2019s Global Hydrotec unit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interest in hydrogen as an energy source for transportation is rising with makers of heavy-duty trucks. The weight of the heavy EV batteries limits the viable range of semi trucks, displacing potentially profitable freight packages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A slew of heavy truck makers, including Kenworth<\/a><\/u><\/strong>, Paccar and Hyundai, are currently running pilot programs, out of the Port of Long Beach. They\u2019re using hydrogen-fuel trucks to move freight from ships to intermodal distribution centers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hydrogen, the most abundant and lightest element in the universe, can play a significant role in accelerating Michigan\u2019s clean-energy transition away from fossil fuels. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nel is still evaluating various locations in Michigan for the new gigafactory, which will be the first facility in the United States to manufacture equipment to produce liquid alkaline electrolysis. Through electrolysis, hydrogen can be produced from water and renewable energy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hydrogen part of push for clean energy<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When fully developed, the Michigan facility will have a production capacity of up to 4GW of Alkaline and PEM electrolyzers. At 90% capacity, the facility will support approximately 1.4 million cars on a regular basis, Volldal said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"GM<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Volldal added Nel has a history tracing back to 1927 and is today a leading pure play hydrogen technology company with a global presence. The company specializes in electrolyzer technology for production of renewable hydrogen and hydrogen fueling equipment for road-based vehicles. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nel\u2019s product offerings are key enablers for a green hydrogen economy, making it possible to decarbonize various industries such as transportation, refining steel and ammonia. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The project is expected to benefit from the Biden administration\u2019s investments in clean energy, including hydrogen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFrom Day One, the Biden administration has been committed to revitalizing America\u2019s manufacturing industry and combatting climate change by investing in clean energy technologies,\u201d said Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Raimondo added investment in research and innovation through the U.S. Department of Energy\u2019s Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Office has led to technology advances that will now be transitioned to gigawatt scale in real world manufacturing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Further, DOE\u2019s $7 billion funding opportunity, announced in September 2022, will create regional \u201cH2 Hubs\u201d that will form the foundation of a national clean-hydrogen network. This is part of a broader $8 billion hydrogen hub program \u2014 funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law \u2014 which will lead to the selection of six to 10 hubs, according to the U.S. DOE.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, the U.S. government is backing development of electrolyzer and fuel cell technology through the Inflation Reduction Act<\/a><\/u><\/strong>. Signed into law last year, it provides tax credits of up to $3 per kilogram of clean hydrogen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Norwegian company set to build a plant for making hydrogen into fuel for cars and heavy trucks in Michigan. Interest in hydrogen as an energy source for transportation is climbing. Get details at TheDetroitBureau.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20009,"featured_media":234941,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10,7,8,5,1164,13,9],"tags":[10769,4506,10766,10767,10768],"make":[],"post-state":[],"category_old":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/242475"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20009"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=242475"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/242475\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":242481,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/242475\/revisions\/242481"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/234941"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=242475"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=242475"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=242475"},{"taxonomy":"make","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/make?post=242475"},{"taxonomy":"post-state","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post-state?post=242475"},{"taxonomy":"category_old","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/category_old?post=242475"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}