Johnson Matthey to build hydrogen fuel cell gigafactory

Johnson Matthey (JM), a global leader in chemicals and sustainable technologies, is to build a £80 million gigafactory at its Royston site in Hertfordshire, to scale up the manufacture of hydrogen fuel cells.

The gigafactory will initially be capable of manufacturing 3GW of proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell components annually for hydrogen vehicles and is supported by the UK Government through the Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC) as manager of the Automotive Transformation Fund (ATF).

The APC forecasts that the UK will need 14GW of fuel cell stack production and 400,000 high pressure carbon fibre tanks annually to meet local vehicle production demands by 2035 whilst the market expects that there could be as many as three million fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) on the road globally by 2030.

Earlier this year, JM announced an ambition to be the “market leader in performance components for fuel cells and electrolysers”, targeting more than £200 million sales in hydrogen technologies by end of 2024/25.

The hydrogen fuel cell facility at Royston will deploy state-of-the-art manufacturing processes to scale up production. The site could be expanded in the future, almost tripling potential capacity, to produce both fuel cell and green hydrogen components. The site is expected to be in operation by the first half of 2024.

Liam Condon, chief executive of Johnson Matthey said, “Decarbonising freight transportation is critical to help societies and industries meet their ambitious net zero emission targets – fuel cells will be a crucial part of the energy transition. For more than two decades, JM has been at the forefront of fuel cell innovation. The fuel cell market has now reached a pivotal moment with the increasing urgency to decarbonise transportation and we’re delighted to be playing a key role in driving it forward.”

Ian Constance, Chief Executive of the APC, the organisation tasked by the automotive industry and government to accelerate development of green vehicle technology and responsible for managing the ATF, said, “This is incredibly significant and puts the UK in an enviable position in the global fuel cell supply chain. Our insight forecasts that the UK could dominate European fuel cell production and be a centre of excellence globally and today’s announcement is a huge step towards realising that ambition.

“We already have 15% of the fuel cell value chain radiating from UK businesses but this could be as much as 65% just by expanding on current strengths in electrochemistry and coatings or using our automotive capability to volume manufacture components.”

Road freight accounts for about 9% of global CO2 emissions, with 62% arising from medium and heavy-duty trucking - the hardest-to-abate transport segments. Hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEV) provide similar benefits to existing technology such as fast refuelling and long range but emit zero kerbside CO2 or other pollutants, so they are a popular option for decarbonising heavy-duty commercial vehicles and are core to a net zero future.