Advent Technologies to open a new manufacturing facility

Advent Technologies Holdings, Inc., a US fuel cell and hydrogen technology company, will build a new production facility at Hood Park, Massachusetts, US. The goal is to speed up its membrane electrode assembly (MEA) initiative, especially high-temperature polymer electrolyte membrane (HT-PEM) fuel cell technology for the automotive industry.

For building the facility, Advent has now signed an eight-year lease for a 21,401 square feet area at Hood Park. The new facility will produce advanced membranes and electrodes as well as conduct quality control and failure analysis to improve the product. It will also test fuel cells to help develop next-generation MEA materials. Moreover, the facility would have a lab for developing automated processes for membrane electrode assembly.

Early this month, Advent signed a joint development agreement with three DoE laboratories for developing materials to support US manufacturing in the fuel cells sector.

Jim Coffey, Advent’s Chief Operating Officer, said: “We selected Massachusetts and Hood Park for our new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility given the close proximity to top research universities and access to a wide pool of intellectual talent.”

Dr Vasilis Gregoriou, Advent’s Chief Executive Officer and Founder said: “ [It will be] will be a significant addition to Advent’s efforts to becoming a global green energy company with state-of-the-art products.”

The company claims that due to the high-temperature operation, its MEAs can work with impure hydrogen that can be reformed onboard from methanol, natural gas, and other renewable fuels.