“This is an important milestone for Nel,” said Håkon Volldal, CEO of Nel. “With this expansion, we will increase PEM production capacity substantially and simultaneously reduce stack cost and improve stack efficiency.
“Last year we opened the world’s first fully automated alkaline electrolyser plant in Herøya, Norway. Now we will industrialize the PEM platform, and the expansion in Wallingford is an important first step.”
The development of the ~500 MW PEM production line will be a substantial contributor to further expansion plans in the US, where developing a quality production concept is crucial for preparing Nel’s planned Gigafactory.
The planned Gigafactory will have a potential of up to ~4 GW production capacity, distributed between both PEM and alkaline. Volldal said that the company is considering three attractive options in three different states and that the final decision is to be made shortly.
Nel is also expanding in Norway. The company recently started constructing the second production line at the Herøya facility, and the production capacity is expected to reach approximately 1 GW in April 2024.
