Within its New Power division, the Cummins group focuses on battery systems, fuel cells and water electrolysis installations, the latter of which use electricity to convert water into oxygen and hydrogen as a renewable power source. This is done in Oevel, among other places, where Cummins acquired Hydrogenics in 2019. At the Flanders-based site, Cummins is working with the relatively new PEM electrolysis technology.
PEM is more efficient than traditional alkaline electrolysis. The response time to fluctuations in renewable energy generation is better and the installations are more compact.
Cummins is now firmly expanding its Oevel site. “In addition to the existing 7,000-square-meter hall, we have commissioned a second production hall of 9,000 square meters,” says Piet Berens, Managing Director Global Electrolyzers. “We will also start manufacturing PEM stacks in Oevel and further expand our R&D activities related to developing larger and more efficient PEM stacks.”
As a result of the investment, Oevel will be able to produce more and supply larger installations to Cummins customers. The Flanders-based site also helps customers with technical design and implementation. Production capacity is increasing from 250 megawatts to 1 gigawatt per year, which is approximately the capacity needed to generate 150,000 tons of hydrogen per year.
For the expansion project, Cummins can rely on European support from the Hy2Tech program to which it gained access through Flanders Innovation & Entrepreneurship, a government agency and partner organization of Flanders Investment & Trade (FIT).
