UK-based hydrogen power company AFC Energy has renewed its collaboration with Air Products, the world’s largest hydrogen producer, extending their partnership for 5 more years.
AFC Energy shares over 5% in early trade on Tuesday after the renewed deal confirmed AFC Energy’s commitment to the expanding European hydrogen market.
AFC Energy will repurpose its existing hydrogen fuel cell facility in Stade, Germany into a site for factory acceptance testing (FAT) of its H-Power hydrogen fuel cell systems. The move leverages the site’s existing hydrogen infrastructure and grid connection, requiring little investment.
The facility will employ local staff to test systems prior to customer deployment, positioning AFC Energy to support growing deployments in Germany and Europe where hydrogen adoption is accelerating. Germany was chosen partly due to far lower hydrogen fuel prices compared to the UK, delivering major cost savings.
Given rapid growth expected in the European hydrogen market, especially Germany, establishing a footprint there is strategic for AFC Energy. The company is also assessing potential co-location of a development and manufacturing facility in Germany, benefitting from its extensive fuel cell supply chain and skilled manufacturing.
Adam Bond, Chief Executive Officer at AFC Energy, said:
“The repurposing of our Stade facility creates a solid footprint within Germany and the wider EU hydrogen market whilst providing a cost effective path for our H-Power Generator factory acceptance testing programme. The market for zero emission off-grid power generation continues to grow internationally with our Stade facility now set to become a further catalyst in the delivery of H-Power Generators within one of the world’s fastest growing hydrogen markets.”