Johnson Matthey plc (JM; Mondon) has taken the next major step in its plans to commercialize technologies to enable production of zero carbon ‘green’ hydrogen, announcing new manufacturing capacity for the production of catalyst coated membranes. This capacity is co-located with JM’s cutting-edge plant in Swindon, U.K., where high-performance fuel cell components including membrane electrode assemblies, catalyst coated membranes, and fuel processor catalysts are produced at scale.
Hydrogen has the potential to significantly contribute to the fight to tackle the climate crisis by decarbonizing industries that are difficult to electrify, such as heavy industry, heavy mobility, aviation and shipping. This is a critical step in helping societies meet their ambitious net zero targets.
JM specializes in catalyst coated membranes which sit at the heart of electrolyzer units and enable the green hydrogen production process, creating hydrogen through the electrolysis of water with no harmful emissions.
The new capacity enables JM to produce components now, initially for tens of megawatts of hydrogen production – enough to power several thousand homes. The largest electrolyzer units in operation in the world today range from 10 to 20 MW. As such, the new capacity puts JM in a position to work with world scale projects, with a roadmap to scale to multi-gigawatt manufacturing capacity in line with customer demand as the market continues its anticipated growth.
Commenting, JM Managing Director, Green Hydrogen, Eugene McKenna said: “This is a significant step on our journey to commercialising this important technology which will help societies reach net zero. This new capacity demonstrates our ability to scale rapidly, recognising the growth potential in green hydrogen and strong fit with the group’s core strengths. Locating at our Swindon site, where our fuel cell experts have been developing and producing similar technologies for many years, enables us to leverage the strong overlap to drive the performance and dramatic cost reduction needed for large scale adoption of green hydrogen.”