Japan’s Yokogawa Electric has bought into Norwegian fuel cell developer TECO 2030.
Yokogawa’s investment in TECO 2030 by way of acquiring treasury shares comes with a strategic partnership agreement aimed at working together on optimising hydrogen fuel cell technology and exploring business opportunities for distributed power sources in shipping and other industrial sectors.
TECO 2030 has set up a factory for the production of hydrogen proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells and energy modules, which consist of multiple cells and auxiliary operating equipment in Narvik, Norway. The fuel cells employ technologies developed together with partner AVL.
Production is already underway, and module production is expected to start within the next few months. The production capacity will be built up over time, targeting an output capacity of 400 MW in 2025 and 1.6 GW in 2030.
Yokogawa Electric has decades of experience in developing core measurement, control, and information technologies for the energy, chemical, and other process industries. The partners said they see opportunities for applying this knowhow to develop technology for optimising the operation of fuel cells and will also explore their use as distributed energy resources in industries that have high decarbonisation needs.
“Energy conversion systems are going to play an important role in the transition from the fossil fuel era to a renewable energy era. Yokogawa firmly believes that fuel cells are one of the pathways to net-zero emissions in the maritime and industrial sectors, and we are confirming this by embarking on a journey with TECO 2030 as a strategic partner for a sustainable future,” said Tsuyoshi Abe, a Yokogawa Electric senior vice president and head of the marketing headquarters.
Hydrogen fuel cells use an electrochemical process that combines hydrogen and oxygen to produce electrical energy and water. The Lysaker-based developer sees fuel cells powered by green hydrogen, or hydrogen produced through green ammonia-to-hydrogen cracking technology, as more energy efficient than conventional combustion engines and without generating nitrogen oxide (NOx), allowing their use as zero-emission energy sources in a range of applications.
“Although adoption has been limited up to now, technology maturity and a dramatic increase in demand for hydrogen-powered marine vessels are driving expansion of the fuel cell market, and the resulting reduction in manufacturing costs is expected to in turn accelerate use in the automotive and industrial sectors as well,” TECO 2030 said.
