Toray German Subsidiary to Construct Second Plant for key components for Hydrogen Fuel Cells and Water Electrolyzers

Toray Industries, Inc.

Tokyo, Japan, March 3, 2020 – Toray Industries, Inc., announced today that German subsidiary Greenerity GmbH held a groundbreaking ceremony a day earlier for its second plant. This will be in an industrial area of Alzenau, Bavaria, around 10 kilometers southwest of Hanau. That company develops, manufactures, and sells components for hydrogen fuel cells. The new facility is scheduled to go on line in November 2021.

The new facility will install equipment to efficiently produce catalyst coated membranes and membrane electrode assemblies, which are key components of hydrogen fuel cells (see glossary note 1). Once running at full capacity, the combined annual output of both offerings would be an estimated 10 million units. That level would cover the needs of about 80,000 range extender-fitted delivery vans.

Countries around the world have rolled out regulations and standards as part of policy and legislative initiatives to curb carbon dioxide emissions from gasoline, diesel, and other vehicles with internal combustion engines. Such moves aim to combat global warming in keeping with the Paris Agreement (glossary note 2) and the Sustainable Development Goals (glossary note 3) of the United Nations.

Major Tier 1 suppliers and automakers in Europe and China have accordingly entered the arenas for range extenders for buses, trucks, delivery vans, and other commercial vehicles, as well as for hydrogen fuel cells for fuel cell vehicles (glossary note 4), including passenger models.

Greenerity will therefore position itself through the new plant to add capacity and thus cater to surging demand for catalyst coated membranes and membrane electrode assemblies in the years ahead.

The Toray Group offers materials and components for hydrogen and fuel cell applications such as high-strength carbon fiber, prepreg (see glossary note 5), liner resins with a good durability against hydrogen embrittlement for high-pressure hydrogen tanks, gas diffusion layers, catalyst layers, and hydrocarbon –based electrolyte membranes that have both good durability at elevated operation temperature and also low gas permeability ideal for hydrogen fuel cells as well as for water electrolysis and hydrogen compression applications.

In 2015, Toray acquired Greenerity for the latter’s catalyst coated membrane and membrane electrode assembly design technologies, combining them with related material technologies of its own to expand the businesses as a manufacturing and sales bases.

Toray will bolster its efforts in the years ahead through this relationship to contribute to creating low-carbon, hydrogen societies.
The Toray Group’s mission is to deliver innovative technologies and advanced materials that provide real solutions to the world’s challenges by balancing development and sustainability with innovative ideas, technologies, and products.
In keeping with its commitment to creating new value to contribute to social progress, it will collaborate with partners around the world in an intensive effort to materialize Paris Agreement objectives, Sustainable Development Goals, and other targets of the international community.