Cost competitive clean hydrogen production collab forms between Nel and GM

The two companies are seeking to enable more cost competitive sources of renewable H2.

Nel Hydrogen US, a Nel ASA (Nel, OSE: NEL) subsidiary, has teamed up with General Motors (NYSE: GM) to speed up the industrialization of Nel’s PEM electrolyzer platform for the purpose of making clean hydrogen sources more cost competitive.

Nel and GM will combine their expertise to reach their combined goal.

Nel is well-known for its ground breaking hydrogen technology. For instance, it was the world’s first company to have a fully automated alkaline electrolyzer production line. The next objective – with the help of GM – will be to produce its proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyzer equipment on an industrial scale to allow for considerable clean hydrogen technology advancement.

GM has extensive fuel cell expertise and is developing and commercializing both Ultium battery and HYDROTECH hydrogen fuel cell systems technologies to deliver on performance and cost. The development and commercialization of these technologies is opening new potential revenue paths for GM as more industries (e.g., aerospace, freight trucking, locomotive, power generation) turn to the company to enhance performance and decrease emissions.

With GM’s fuel cell expertise and Nel’s PEM electrolyzer knowledge – two technologies that are largely based on the same principles – both companies see “substantial synergies” by transferring GM’s expertise with fuel cells to Nel’s PEM platform.

The collaboration is key to helping the commercialization of clean hydrogen fuel cell technology.

Håkon Volldal, Nel’s CEO, said in a press release announcing the partnership that Nel believes the collaboration will give them a competitive advantage in industrializing the production of Nel’s PEM electrolyzers as well as further improve the efficiency of their technology.

“An automated production concept is key when scaling up and driving down cost on electrolyzer technology,” Volldal said. “By utilizing the combined expertise of both companies, it will help to more quickly develop a green hydrogen technology that is competitive with fossil fuels.”

Charles Freese, GM executive director, Global HYDROTEC, said that partnering with Nel is an important step to support GM’s goal to commercialize fuel cell tech. The reason is electrolysis is fundamental to producing reliable clean sources of hydrogen to power fuel cells.

“Nel has some of the most promising electrolyzer technology to help develop clean hydrogen infrastructure, and we believe our HYDROTEC fuel cell IP can help them get closer to scale,” Freese stated.

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