H-TEC SYSTEMS to open new production site of 5GW for electrolyzers in Germany
The hydrogen specialist H-TEC SYSTEMS is becoming Quest One. With the name change on September 30, the company is underlining the importance of its own ambitious goal: to avoid one percent of global greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 through the use of its electrolyzers and make a decisive contribution to climate protection.
The official name change will occur on the occasion of the opening of a new production site in Hamburg in September. With the completion of the new “Gigahub”, the company will for the first time start serial and automated production of electrolysis stacks, the technological heart of an electrolyzer.
Robin von Plettenberg says, “With Quest One, we have found a name that sums up our work. We want to avoid one percent of global greenhouse gas emissions and to do so we rely on hydrogen, the first element in the periodic table. This mammoth task is a true quest and a huge incentive for us. We want to develop Quest One into one of the world’s largest manufacturers of electrolyzers and help shape the ramp-up of the hydrogen economy. With our new name, we are underlining this international claim and putting climate protection at the center.”
For green hydrogen to become a reliable alternative to fossil fuels, it must be available in large quantities and at competitive prices in the future. The climate-neutral conversion of industry with its high energy requirements is an important area of application. It is produced using electrolyzers in which so-called stacks are installed. Here, energy becomes an element – and water becomes oxygen and hydrogen with the help of renewable electricity.
PEM electrolysis, which is based on proton exchange membrane (PEM) technology, is one of the most important processes for industrially scaled hydrogen production from renewable energies. With the start of industrial series production of electrolyzers, the large future demand for green hydrogen should be able to be met. As a pioneer in the industry, H-TEC SYSTEMS already has over 25 years of experience in this field, and several dozen systems are in operation in Europe.
Uwe Lauber says: “The renaming of H-TEC SYSTEMS to Quest One marks the beginning of a new era. When we took over H-TEC SYSTEMS in 2019, the company had a start-up character: around 40 employees manufactured top-quality electrolyzers in the factory. Since then, the number of employees has increased more than tenfold and we are building the most modern stack production facility in Europe. H-TEC SYSTEMS is now a leading driver of the hydrogen transition, for which international business is also becoming increasingly important. The new name Quest One reflects this impressive development.”
A milestone is the new, state-of-the-art production and development site, which will open in Hamburg on September 30th. The new Gigahub will enable automated series production of stacks with a potential total electrolysis capacity of over five gigawatts per year when fully expanded. These stacks will be developed and produced at the new site in the Hanseatic city. Until now, many work steps have been done by hand.
With automated production in the Gigahub, up to 75 percent of the current production time can be saved.
Launched as a scientific project in 1997, H-TEC SYSTEMS is now considered a specialist in the field of PEM electrolysis. MAN Energy Solutions has been the majority shareholder since 2021 and has pledged financing of up to 500 million euros for the coming years. As a subsidiary of MAN Energy Solutions and part of the Volkswagen Group, H-TEC SYSTEMS will continue to be able to draw on the enormous expertise of the two groups as Quest One: the global sales network and experience in major heavy industry projects through MAN Energy Solutions as well as direct access to expertise in the field of production scaling and the supplier-based series business of the Volkswagen Group.
