Attended by representatives from the local political and business communities, hydrogen specialist H-TEC SYSTEMS – a subsidiary of MAN Energy Solutions – has held the groundbreaking ceremony for its new production facility in Hamburg.

The H-TEC SYSTEMS Stack Manufacturing & Development Center will gather stack development, production and testing in one location, employing several hundred employees in the long term. As early as 2024, the new location will automate the production of PEM electrolysis stacks with a potential total electrolysis capacity of 5 gigawatts. The stacks will form the core of the PEM electrolysers, which are built at the company’s headquarters in Augsburg.

Dr. Uwe Lauber, CEO of MAN Energy Solutions, said: “For a successful hydrogen ramp-up, we need to scale up from individual stack manufacture to automated series production, which is why we are breaking ground here today; I am very pleased that H-TEC SYSTEMS is at the forefront of this development. MAN Energy Solutions is investing 500 million euro into electrolyser manufacturing over the next few years to make H-TEC SYSTEMS one of the world’s top three manufacturers.”

Hydrogen demand

Through the new site in Hamburg, H-TEC SYSTEMS is strengthening its position in the hydrogen market and making a decisive contribution to the global hydrogen ramp-up.

Robin von Plettenberg, CEO of H-TEC SYSTEMS, said: “The demand for industrial hydrogen solutions is continuously growing. With over 11,000 square metres of space for production and testing here, we are ideally positioned to cover future product generations in our new location and thus enable the global hydrogen ramp-up. For a smooth, highly available and cost-effective production of PEM electrolysers and stacks, it is also necessary – in addition to automated production – to align the relevant supply chains with the needs of electrolyser and electrolysis stack production.”

The construction of the automated factory is part of the PEP.IN research project, funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) through the flagship hydrogen project, H2Giga. The project aims to research novel processes for the competitive and mass production of PEM electrolysis stacks and electrolysers in order to make green hydrogen affordable and competitive. In addition to the proven S450 stacks, H-TEC SYSTEMS will also develop and produce a new, higher-performance generation of stacks in its Stack Manufacturing & Development Center.

H-TEC SYSTEMS states that it made a conscious decision in favour of the new location in Hamburg as a sign of its clear commitment to Germany as a production location. Furthermore, its supply chains for stack production are also based predominantly on German and European suppliers.