Hydrogen fuel-cell producer Proton Motor Fuel Cell GmbH is set to expand its German manufacturing capacity in the second quarter of 2023 “to respond to rapid market growth.”

Its UK-listed parent company announced last autumn the signing of a 15-year lease on 25,700 square metres of industrial land in the town of Fuerstenfeldbruck, near Munich in central Bavaria. The land includes 13,500 square metres of usable space.

Of this, 10,500 will be given over to fuel cell production, testing and development, Proton Motor said, with the remainder being used for offices.

The Fuerstenfeldbruck site is 12km from Proton Motor’s German headquarters, in Puchheim, which will be converted to a development facility for hydrogen fuel cell stacks and systems.

The expansion should allow Proton Motor to increase its production capacity to perspectively 30,000 fuel cell stacks and 5,000 systems a year, the company said. Alongside this sevenfold increase in production capacity, Proton Motor said it would be enlarging its sales department.

Proton Motor`s new automated series production plant was inaugurated in September 2019 by the Bavarian Minister of Economic Affairs and Energy. The so-called stack roboter is currently being prepared for installation and commissioning at the new manufacturing site.

“Hydrogen is the energy carrier and source of the future. The awareness of this is increasing to a considerable extent both amongst the public and within industry,” said Proton Motor’s Chief Executive Officer, Dr Faiz Nahab, in the October 2022 media release.

“This creates a strong market pull for associated technologies such as fuel cells. The additional space provided by the new facility will give Proton Motor the required capacity to produce, test and deliver hydrogen fuel cell systems in line with this anticipated growing demand.”

Proton Motor’s fuel cell technology has been under development since 1998 and is designed for stationary energy applications such as backup power, as well as for use in the automotive, maritime and rail sectors. The company kicked off 2023 with a string of new order announcements.

In January it said the German power generation company UMSTRO had ordered 18 of its HyModule S8 premium products for use in backup energy and combined heat and power applications.

In February, GKN Hydrogen Italy, part of the aerospace giant GKN, ordered 15 more HyModules for use alongside renewable energy projects.

Prague, Czech Republic-based clean technology developer ComAp then ordered a HyModule system and test bench maker nexiss placed an order for two Proton Motor HyFrame S28 units.