USA / Germany - Cummins Inc of Columbus, Indiana, USA has announced plans to open a new facility in Herten, Germany, for assembly of fuel cell systems, initially for Alstom’s hydrogen trains. The company already has alternative power production and research facilities located in the United Kingdom, Belgium and Germany, and the location in Herten will enable Cummins, through its Hydrogenics’ subsidiary business (it acquired Hydrogenics Corporation, the Mississauga, Ontario, Canadian-based hydrogen generating company) to produce a high volume of fuel cell systems for customers. Cummins also owns a facility in Oevel, Belgium, responsible for the assembly and integration of both PEM and alkaline electrolysers.

With capacity of 10 megawatts per year, the Herten facility will manufacture one megawatt of fuel cell systems a month for Alstom’s hydrogen-powered trains, called the Coradia iLint, as well as provide aftermarket support. Each fuel cell system will include six power modules (fuel cell stacks), a cooling system, piping, air blowers and air filters. Power modules take air from outside and hydrogen from the hydrogen storage tank to produce power.