Quest One will terminate around 120 jobs at the company’s Hamburg and Ausburg sites in Germany in a bid to strengthen its competitiveness.
In an online statement, the German firm, formally known as H-TEC Systems, said it is “reacting to an overall tense economic situation and a ramp-up of the German and international hydrogen economy that has lagged behind expectations.”
The restructuring programme will focus on significant cost reductions to increase the company’s competitiveness and to align internal capacities with the current market situation.
As a result, many employees’ contracts will be terminated “without redundancies if possible.” Quest One stated, “The program will create the framework conditions for greater customer proximity, stronger competitiveness and more profitable growth.”
Its CEO, Michael Meister, said the decision was made due to the “market environment remaining challenging for the foreseeable future.”
Meister continued, “So far, the growth of the global hydrogen economy has lagged well behind the industry’s expectations and the planned steps of the German and European hydrogen strategies.
“The entire industry cannot escape the resulting economic effects, and Quest One is no exception. We have to act and to take difficult decisions. With the programme, we are actively strengthening Quest One’s ability to react to fluctuations in the market.
“There is no getting around green hydrogen for the decarbonisation of industry. We remain firmly committed to Quest One’s target to avoid one percent of global greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 through the use of our products.”
Quest One expects savings in the “low to mid double-digit million range.”
Markus Weber, Chief Financial Officer of Quest One, said the current state of the market called for “rapid action.”
The CFO added, “Our shared understanding is that the program is necessary and will be implemented with a balanced approach. Through the resulting focus, Quest One will emerge stronger and better equipped to face the challenges of the market.”
The announcement comes shortly after Quest One begun construction of an electrolyser demonstration plant at MAN Energy Solutions’ Ausburg site.
Read more:Quest One begins installing electrolyser demonstrator at MAN Energy Solutions’ performance centre
Quest One will use the 10MW system to generate data in test operation conditions to enable “comprehensive optimisation” of the plant operations, as well as the assembly and service concept of the electrolyser.
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