Nel ASA (Nel) has made a financial decision to increase the capacity of its PEM electrolyser manufacturing facility located in Wallingford, Connecticut. The expansion is expected to result in an annual production of 500 MW in 2025.

“This is an important milestone for Nel,” said Nel’s CEO, Håkon Volldal. “With this expansion, we will increase PEM production capacity substantially and simultaneously reduce stack cost and improve stack efficiency.”

The projected expenditure for this project is NOK 260 million, and the nameplate capacity is estimated to be reachable by 2025.

“Last year, we opened the world’s first fully automated alkaline electrolyser plant in Herøya, Norway. Now we will industrialize the PEM platform, and the expansion in Wallingford is an important first step,” said Volldal.

The production line, planned to yield up to ~500 MW, will play a substantial role in further developing the expansion plans in the US. For these projects to become successful, it is paramount to produce a reliable product concept.

In terms of potential production, the anticipated Gigafactory has an upper limit of ~4 GW, which can be allocated among PEM and Alkaline electrolysers.

Volldal further revealed that Nel is currently assessing three attractive prospects situated in different states and will shortly announce a final verdict.”

Moreover, Nel is widening its presence in Norway by constructing a second production line at the Herøya plant, with the production capacity slated to reach approximately 1 GW in April 2024.

In recent months, Nel has secured a number of substantial orders for large-scale electrolyser projects, thus increasing production from three to five shifts and functioning around the clock, also on weekends, Volldal concluded.