Faurecia: New global centre of expertise for hydrogen tanks

Faurecia announced the creation of a global centre of expertise for hydrogen storage systems at its R+D centre in Bavans, France. The company said it will invest in research and development of new-generation high-pressure tanks that are more efficient and lighter, as well as in a test centre to characterise these tanks.

The centre, scheduled to start operations in Q2 2020, represents a total investment of approximatively EUR 25 million, including EUR 4.9 million in subsidies from the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region. In the long term, the company plans to create 50 new jobs at the Bavans site, which already has nearly 750 employees dedicated to its Clean Mobility activity.

Hydrogen tanks (Source: Faurecia)

Christophe Schmitt, Executive Vice-President of Faurecia Clean Mobility, said: “The creation of our hydrogen tank centre of expertise in France is a key step forward in Faurecia’s strategy to become a global leader in fuel cell systems. Perfectly adapted to commercial and heavy goods vehicles, this technology will play an important role in zero emission mobility. I would like to thank the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region and its President Ms Dufay for their trust and support in this project.”

Marie-Guite Dufay, President of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region, added: “Hydrogen is a long-standing, mature and recognised sector in the region. It has a robust ecosystem, with large industrial groups, structuring facilities, pioneering territories, and projects of an extremely large scale. The implementation of a global centre for hydrogen storage systems in Bavans is excellent news and will further strengthen the development of this industry in the region. We have a major ambition with the hydrogen sector: to become a leading region in France and Europe.”

www.faurecia.com