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The Hydrogen Stream: Honda reveals plans to halve fuel cell costs by 2030

Honda has revealed a new hydrogen strategy, while Air Liquide and TotalEnergies have announced a new hydrogen joint venture.

Honda has revealed plans to launch an all-new fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) based on the CR-V 5-seater SUV next year. The Japanese company said it will also sell its fuel cell systems in the open market to promote its hydrogen fuel cell systems, in cooperation with General Motors. This will allow it to reach economies of scale. Honda said fuel cell stack costs should become comparable with diesel engines by 2030, at about one-third to half of current costs. “We have identified four core domains we will focus on during the early phase of our hydrogen business: Honda FCEV models, commercial vehicles, stationary power stations and construction machinery,” said Arata Ichinose, head of business development at Honda. The company will also collaborate with original equipment manufacturers on commercial vehicles and construction machinery in Japan and China. 

Morocco “is well positioned” to become a regional leader in the green hydrogen economy, ranking alongside the United States, Saudi Arabia, Australia, and Chile as the five countries most likely to produce cost-competitive green hydrogen, wrote the Atlantic Council. North Africa has the potential to become the world’s foremost producer of green hydrogen, should Europe channel significant investments. “Algeria has the largest wind energy potential on the continent – approximately 7,700 GW if fully developed – and released plans to expand renewable energy production to 15 GW by 2035, with an annual growth rate of 1 GW. Mauritania’s combined solar and wind potential exceeds 500 GW if fully developed,” said the US think tank.

Air Liquide and TotalEnergies has decided to set up an equally owned joint venture to develop a network of hydrogen stations for heavy-duty vehicles on major European road corridors. “The partners aim to deploy more than 100 hydrogen stations on major European roads – in France, Benelux, and Germany – in the coming years,” said Air Liquide. The French groups said they will invest in the stations and produce hydrogen from the market. 

Alstom has announced a passenger service demonstration project for its Coradia iLint hydrogen-powered train in Canada, in partnership with the provincial government of Quebec, Chemin de fer Charlevoix, Train de Charlevoix, Harnois Énergies, and HTEC. “The province of Quebec will be the first jurisdiction in the Americas to run a train with zero direct emissions powered by green hydrogen,” said the French company. 

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The French government has announced €126 million ($136.7 million) of aid for 14 territorial hydrogen ecosystems, within the call launched in 2020. A new call for projects will take place in 2023. “The objective is to continue the deployment of hydrogen ecosystems, particularly for industrial uses,” said the French government. The new call for projects will be launched after a consultation in February.

Plug Power and Johnson Matthey have announced a long-term strategic partnership to accelerate the green hydrogen economy. Johnson Matthey will become a strategic supplier of membrane electrode assemblies (MEA) components, providing a portion of Plug Power’s demand for catalysts, membranes, and catalyst-coated membranes (CCM). “Plug and Johnson Matthey will co-invest in what is expected to be the largest (5 GW scaling to 10 GW over time) CCM manufacturing facility in the world,” said Plug Power. “The facility will be built in the United States and likely begin production in 2025.”

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Source: pv magazine