A U.Okay.-headquartered agency mentioned Monday it was constructing an £80 million ($95.9 million) “gigafactory” specializing within the manufacture of hydrogen gas cell parts, with operations deliberate to start out within the first half of 2024.

In an announcement, London-listed Johnson Matthey mentioned the ability in Royston, England, would be capable of produce 3 gigawatts of proton trade membrane gas cell parts per 12 months. Also referred to as polymer electrolyte membrane gas cells, the U.S. authorities says PEM gas cells in vehicles “use hydrogen gas and oxygen from the air to provide electrical energy.” PEM gas cells are produced from a variety of totally different supplies.

The thought is that the parts shall be utilized by hydrogen automobiles, with the announcement referencing highway freight. Earlier experiences about JM’s plans for a hydrogen gigafactory have been revealed by The Sunday Occasions in Nov. 2021.

Johnson Matthey’s plans have acquired backing from the U.Okay. authorities through the Superior Propulsion Centre’s Automotive Transformation Fund, a funding program centered on large-scale industrialization.

The thought behind gas cell automobiles is that hydrogen from a tank mixes with oxygen, producing electrical energy. Based on the U.S. Division of Power’s Different Fuels Information Heart, gas cell automobiles emit “solely water vapor and heat air.”

In its personal announcement on Monday, the Superior Propulsion Centre mentioned it was forecasting that U.Okay. demand for gas cells could be roughly 10 GW by 2030, rising to 14 GW by the 12 months 2035. This, it added, could be “equal to 140,000 automobiles.”

The APC mentioned gas cell automobiles have been “as fast to refuel as a typical combustion engine and have a variety and energy density to rival diesel engines.” This made them “good for heavy responsibility functions” equivalent to heavy items automobiles, or HGVs.

“Decarbonising freight transportation is essential to assist societies and industries meet their formidable web zero emission targets – gas cells shall be an important a part of the power transition,” Liam Condon, chief govt of Johnson Matthey, mentioned.

JM is one in every of a number of companies engaged on expertise associated to hydrogen gas cell automobiles. On the finish of June, Tevva, one other firm primarily based within the U.Okay., launched a hydrogen-electric heavy items car.

The identical month noticed Volvo Vehicles announce it had begun to check automobiles that use “gas cells powered by hydrogen,” with the Swedish agency saying their vary may lengthen to as a lot as 1,000 kilometers, or slightly over 621 miles.

Whereas some are excited in regards to the potential of gas cell automobiles within the years forward, their present market share stays small in comparison with battery electrical automobiles.

Based on the Worldwide Power Company’s World Electrical Automobile Outlook 2022 report, the world’s gas cell electrical car inventory stood at round 51,600 in 2021.

The IEA says electrical car gross sales — that’s, gross sales of battery electrical and plug-in hybrid automobiles — hit 6.6 million in 2021. Within the first quarter of 2022, EV gross sales got here to 2 million, a 75% improve in comparison with the primary three months of 2021.