Industrial and automotive supplier Schaeffler has announced a 50:50 joint venture with Symbio to produce fuel cell bipolar plates (BBP) for global mobility and energy solutions.
The company, which will be operational under the brand name Innoplate by the end of 2022, will accelerate the production of next-generation BPP for the entire proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell market, the company noted.
According to a press release from the company, the start of production of the JV is planned for early 2024. The production unit will be located in Haguenau, France, and will have an initial capacity of four million BPP per year, aiming at producing annually around 50 million BPP globally and employing more than 120 people by 2030.
The site will embody the highest sustainability standards and will target net zero-emission operations, the release said.
Innoplate will enable and accelerate the mass-production of next-generation BPP, with Symbio and Schaeffler being the JV’s exclusive customers, the company said.
Symbio has received a first major nomination for its fuel cell system from a leading automotive OEM and plans to use the JV to supply the BPP for this program, it added.
Philippe Rosier, CEO, Symbio, said, “Metallic fuel cell bipolar plates are a strategic high added value component of the fuel cell system. Innoplate will be instrumental to secure serial production capability underpinning our customers’ programmes and the Hydrogen mobility market uptake, while accelerating enhanced system performance and an effective step-up in cost competitiveness of our solutions.”
Klaus Rosenfeld, CEO, Schaeffler, said, “We believe that hydrogen will play a vital role in enabling clean mobility in the future. The establishment of a hydrogen economy and the transition to sustainable energy resources will largely depend on the industrialisation of reliable supply chains for the new technologies.”