Through its subsidiary Helion Hydrogen Power, Alstom is targeting heavy mobility with a high-power fuel cell. As you can see, the French company is not limiting itself to hydrogen trains.

Purchased by Alstom, Helion has announced it will start setting up its new high-power hydrogen fuel cell plant. The megafactory is due to be delivered in the third quarter of 2024. It will have a production capacity of up to 30 MW per year, equivalent to manufacturing one fuel cell per day. These fuel cells will play a key role in decarbonising heavy mobility sectors such as trains, ships and construction or mining machinery. They can also replace diesel generators.

In its press release, Helion states that “the new plant will be the first high-power fuel cell manufacturing unit in France.” This remains to be seen, as there are similar projects by HDF Energy (under licence from Ballard) and Inocel. Helion’s megafactory will be integrated into Alstom’s future development centre in Aix-en-Provence, bringing together the three sites located in the southern region: Alstom’s Aix-en-Provence site, the Vitrolles site and HELION Hydrogen Power.

Following a U-turn by the Lower Saxony transport authority, in Germany, the relevance of hydrogen-powered trains is being debated. But, fortunately for Alstom, it can broaden its scope thanks to its expertise in the fuel cell.

Do you want to learn more about Alstom and its fuel cell? Then our latest article about the company should be of interest to you. You can read it here.

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Article written by Laurent Meillaud and translated by Logan King