Zepp.solutions secures €2M grant to build fuel cell systems factory

Zepp.options, a Dutch firm specialised in hydrogen gasoline cell know-how, has secured a €1.98-million grant from the European Simply Transition Fund (JTF) for the event of a gasoline cell methods manufacturing facility. The manufacturing facility shall be located in Europe’s strategic transport hub, the Higher-Rijnmond area.

With the help of the Ministries of Financial Affairs and Local weather (EZK) and Social Affairs and Employment (SZW), in addition to the municipalities within the Dutch Higher Rijnmond space, zepp.options goals to speed up the transition in direction of inexperienced applied sciences within the transport sector whereas fostering resilience within the labor market.

The manufacturing facility shall be devoted to the manufacturing of zepp’s Y50 and X150 totally built-in hydrogen gasoline cell modules. These gasoline cell modules rework hydrogen fuel into usable high-voltage electrical energy to drive autos, vessels or different heavy equipment.

Present functions embrace the Rotterdam Watertaxi, a Terberg yard tractor, excavators for development in addition to a 67-meter lengthy inland delivery vessel. The primary two semi-trucks that includes zepp’s gasoline cell methods will hit the roads later this 12 months.

The manufacturing facility will allow zepp.options to scale up manufacturing to 1,000 methods yearly, resulting in the creation of roughly 100 sustainable jobs within the hydrogen sector inside the area. By specializing in the manufacturing of their zero-emission gasoline cell methods, zepp.options additionally contributes to the area’s ambition to turn out to be the main European hydrogen hub.

A considerable portion of the gasoline cell methods produced will discover their place inside zepp.options’ not too long ago unveiled Europa vans, which makes use of the X150 gasoline cell system. (Earlier post.)

Based in 2017 as a by-product from TU Delft’s hydrogen racing group ‘Forze’, zepp.options combines a singular skillset and expertise, starting from pioneering race automobile gasoline cell energy methods to the excessive technical and industrial calls for of maritime and (off-)freeway functions.

The Simply Transition Fund (JTF) contributes to the transition to a climate-neutral Europe. The primary goal of the JTF is to allow areas that rely closely on revenue and employment from fossil fuels to enter into an power transition in a simply and equal method, considering social, financial and environmental impacts.

The JTF is a Dutch nationwide program, the implementation is organized regionally. The Ministries of Financial Affairs and Local weather (EZK) and Social Affairs and Employment (SZW), provinces and municipalities are becoming a member of forces to collectively form and implement the JTF program. Within the Netherlands, six areas are concerned: Groot-Rijnmond, Groningen, IJmond, West-Brabant, Zeeuws-Vlaanderen and Zuid-Limburg.