The partnership, which is centred around a sale and service agreement with DEUTZ, will strengthen Blue World Technologies’ market access through DEUTZ’ large worldwide sales and service network.

As a technology leader in the development and production of methanol fuel cell components, stacks, reformers, and systems Blue World Technologies has since the company was founded in October 2018 had an aim to bring high-temperature PEM fuel cell technology to a commercial level through the industrialisation of the technology. Earlier this year, the company took over 8,500 m2 production facilities in Aalborg, Denmark, and is now in the process of installing production equipment in what will be one of the largest fuel cell factories in Europe.

DEUTZ is a world-leading off-highway drivetrain and technology provider with a sales and service network covering more than 800 sales and service providers in 130 countries around the world. With a focus on innovation and having a broad product spectrum, DEUTZ is welcoming the fuel cell technology as part of its engagement in green technology. The partnership agreement is subject to final due diligence with completion expected during Q4 2021 at which time Deutz will assume a 10% equity interest in Blue World Technologies.

“By partnering with Blue World Technologies, DEUTZ is expanding its activities in the development of climate-neutral drive systems,” says Dr Frank Hiller, CEO of DEUTZ AG and continues: “In the business with gensets, we see an exceptionally attractive market that we are looking to tap into together with Blue World. Genset users are now expecting zero-emission, climate-neutral technology for their applications too. Fuel cells that run on ‘green’ methanol provide an ideal solution here. DEUTZ is thus making further headway with new technologies that will move it beyond the conventional engine to offer climate-neutral solutions even for the off-highway segment and stationary applications”.

At Blue World Technologies, they see a large potential in the collaboration with DEUTZ that from the beginning also enabled the company to bring in an additional partner:

“We are very excited about this partnership with DEUTZ. It means we will be able to work with one of the world’s leading developers and manufacturers of engines on the joint development and distribution of our fuel cell technology. DEUTZ’ investment is also giving us a boost ahead of our planned public listing, and our partnership with DEUTZ will be a major contribution towards meeting our mutual goals,” states Anders Korsgaard, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Blue World Technologies and continues: “Furthermore, we are happy to announce that Vaekstfonden, the Danish Growth Fund, also expects to take a significant stake in Blue World Technologies. We have a strong relationship with Vaekstfonden and with these two strategic partners on board, we can speed up the process of building one of the largest fuel cell factories in Europe to meet customer demand”.

Strengthening global reach and climate impact

Both Blue World Technologies and DEUTZ are dedicated to changing the market for traditional combustion engines providing an alternative supporting the shift towards green technologies. The partnership is enabling a global reach for Blue World’s climate- and environmentally friendly stationary fuel cell gensets through DEUTZ’ large sales and service network.

“Blue World Technologies being a young company, the global reach we are now gaining from the partnership with DEUTZ is of great importance for us, but also the climate and environment will benefit from the collaboration as the technology roll-out will be speeded up and the technology will be presented as a green alternative to additional markets outside of our own focus area within stationary applications,” Anders Korsgaard explains.

The synergy between the two companies will push the green energy transition forward reducing both CO2, NOx, SOx, and particle emission. When the fuel cells are fuelled with green methanol produced from green electricity and CO2 from non-fossil sources e.g. biomass, waste, or direct air capture, the system will have a net-zero CO2 emission.

Besides the collaboration with DEUTZ, which primarily is concentrated around stationary fuel cell gensets, Blue World Technologies continues its activities on fuel cell stack and supporting subsystem deliveries and system development to OEMs within a wide variety of industries e.g. within the transportation sector where the fuel cell technology has a large potential. Examples of this are the ongoing activities within the maritime sector where Blue World Technologies is exploring the use of methanol fuel cells as marine auxiliary power in a modular design scalable up to 5 MW and the effort within auxiliary power units (APU) for mobility applications.