H-Tec Systems will start automated production of 5GW of electrolyser stacks per year from the end of next month
Electrolyser manufacturer H-Tec Systems has announced that it will open its “Gigahub” factory in Hamburg — which will be capable of rolling out 5GW of proton-exchange-membrane (PEM) stacks per year — at the end of September.
While the stacks will still be assembled into electrolyser systems at the company’s Augsburg site, the German firm anticipates that the automated production at the Gigahub will save up to 75% of time taken to manufacture the components.
However, while H-Tec — which announced today that it will be changing its name to Quest One on 30 September — anticipates that its new factory will meet future demand from green hydrogen projects, it is unclear whether the company has the customers to justify the scale of its Gigahub.
To date, most of H-Tec’s projects have had single-digit-megawatt capacity. Hydrogen Insight has reached out to the firm for more information on its customer pipeline in the coming years.
The Gigahub had also been part-funded by the German government’s €500m ($556m) H2Giga programme, although it has not been revealed how much the factory had cost to build nor how much of the bill had been footed by state aid.
H-Tec, which is almost entirely owned by diesel engine manufacturer MAN Energy Solutions, has already expanded into the US, setting up manufacturing capacity on its parent company’s site in Houston, Texas.
MAN Energy Solutions had in 2022 agreed to fund H-Tec Systems with €500m from its coffers “over the next few years”, although it is unclear if this commitment has been fully invested yet.
The new name for the company, Quest One, is based on its aims for its electrolysers to avoid 1% of global greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, or approximately 400 million tonnes of CO2-equivalent based on the most recent estimates for the world’s emissions.
“This mammoth task is a true quest and hugely motivating for us,” said Robin von Plettenberg, CEO of H-Tec.
“We want to develop Quest One into one of the world’s largest manufacturers of electrolyzers and help shape the ramp-up of the hydrogen economy. With our new name, we are underlining this international ambition and putting climate protection at the center.”