Ineos confirms green hydrogen production plan and fuel cell Grenadier SUV

This is a part of a $2.3 billion investment announcement into the renewable energy strategy.

Ineos announced this wee that it was investing $2.3 billion into what the chemical company is referring to as green hydrogen production.

This would be an important step toward the development of a fuel cell version of the Grenadier SUV.

The hydrogen production investment will fund plants located in the United Kingdom, Germany, Norway and Belgium. The facilities will produce H2 using electrolysis, according to a news release from the company. Ineos is already operating a number of plants through its Inovyn subsidiary. The company claims it is the largest H2 plant operator in Europe.

Another part of the company’s renewable energy investment involves installing a 100 MW electrolyzer in Cologne, Germany. That facility will be producing H2 that will be used for making green ammonia. A transition through green ammonia has the potential to decrease global greenhouse gas emissions by nearly 1 percent per year, said Ineos in its news release.

Beyond green hydrogen production Ineos also unveiled its fuel cell Grenadier SUV.

The announcement described a fuel cell version of the Grenadier that will be developed using Hyundai technology. That SUV model will be built at the former Hambach, France, Smart factory. That location had previously been intended for producing electric cars before Daimler, owner of Smart, sold it to Ineos.

The retro Grenadier SUV was inspired by the Land Rover Defender and will launch with gasoline and diesel engines from BMW as well as a fuel cell version. Ineos and Hyundai signed a memorandum of understanding near the end of last year. That MoU launched a collaboration between the companies on H2 fuel cell projects. Therefore, it is possible that the fuel cell system for the SUV may also be from Hyundai.

Hyundai has been moving to step beyond passenger cars, hydrogen cars for future H2 applications. The South Korean company has stated that it intends to pair the fuel cell systems with large electric batteries in heavy duty trucks. Last month, it unveiled a sketch of its full fuel cell system and hydrogen production vision.