Siemens Energy, Air Liquide Complete Electrolyzer Factory in Berlin

Siemens Energy and Air Liquide announced the completion of their 1 GW electrolyzer production factory in Berlin, Germany, allowing Siemens Energy to manufacture electrolyzers as a mass product to accelerate the hydrogen economy. The factory has an annual production capacity of 1 GW and is expected to increase to 3 GW by 2025. An installed electrolysis capacity of 3 GW can produce an average of 300,000 metric tons of green hydrogen per year.

Siemens Energy utilized the complete infrastructure of an existing production facility and will employ the site’s current workforce at the factory. Production lines for the electrolyzers were established on 2,000m² of space at a cost of approximately €30 million. The factory will supply stacks based on proton exchange membrane (PEM) technology for a range of customers within the market. PEM electrolyzers allow gigawatt capacities to be brought to market with lower material, manpower, and space requirements and once produced, the stacks will be transported closer to the project sites to cut down on cost.

Electrolyzer factory in Berlin, Germany; Image Credits: Siemens Energy

"There is no energy transition without green molecules,” said Christian Bruch, CEO of Siemens Energy. “With today's opening and the start of gigawatt-scale production of electrolyzers, we are launching the next step for the commercialization of this technology. Now we need to agree on a viable business model with a balanced risk and reward profile to turn the smallest molecule into a success story."

Air Liquide’s Normand’Hy electrolyzer project will be supplied from the Siemens Energy production facility, as per the terms of a joint venture between the companies. The 200 MW Normand’Hy project will use these electrolyzers to reduce CO₂ emissions by 250,000 tons per year.

“The mass production of industrial scale electrolyzers is essential to making competitive renewable hydrogen a reality. Our joint venture with Siemens Energy brings the best of our respective expertise together and allows us to offer the most-suited products to the market,” said François Jackow, CEO of Air Liquide Group. “This technology will soon be operated at the Trailblazer electrolyzer in Oberhausen, with a major scale upcoming for the Normand'Hy electrolyzer project.”