Umicore to build large-scale fuel cell catalyst plant in China
The plant will accelerate growth in hydrogen clean mobility.
Umicore will invest in building a large-scale fuel cell catalyst plant in Changshu, China, in capturing the fast emerging growth in fuel cell technology.
The plant will enable the accelerated transformation to hydrogen-based clean mobility, serving demand through to 2030. The greenfield facility is planned and prepared to be carbon neutral from the start and will contribute to reducing scope 3 emissions in the value chain.
Located in the northwest of Shanghai, the facility is expected to become operational by the end of 2024 and will be scalable to align with the growth of our customers. It will reinforce Umicore’s leading technology and market position in Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) fuel cell catalysts and complement Umicore’s current pioneering production and R&D facilities in Germany and in Korea.
Bart Sap, Executive Vice President of Umicore’s Business Group Catalysis, said, “Over the past 30 years, we’ve successfully grown to become a market leader in fuel cell catalyst technology. With this new large-scale plant in China, we will be ready to cater for growing demand from our customers in a market expected to expand 12-fold towards 2030 and accelerate beyond,”
As part of its circular business model, Umicore also recycles fuel cell catalysts to reuse their metals, such as platinum, for fresh fuel cell catalyst production, reducing their Scope 3 CO2 footprint. Fuel cell catalysts will mainly be used for long-haul, heavy-duty vehicles and, to a lesser extent, in mid-to-light-duty vehicles.
