German tech firm Schaeffler has launched a Chinese-based subsidiary to develop and produce hydrogen technologies.
Schaeffler Hydrogen Technologies, headquartered in Shanghai, was launched in early January after Schaeffler signed a cooperation framework agreement with the local government.
The new company will primarily focus on PEM and anion exchange membrane (AEM) electrolysis stack research, development, production and industrialisation.
It will look to lean on the German parent company’s legacy of producing metal bipolar plates for fuel cells and electrolysers, as well as other key electrical components.
“The new company will rely on Schaeffler’s technological advantages in the field of hydrogen energy, continue to increase R&D efforts and localisation capacity building, and promote the development of the hydrogen energy industry with high-end equipment manufacturing,” said Schaeffler China CEO, Dr. Zhang Yilin.
The company says the new subsidiary will be “deeply integrated” into China’s supply chain system.
It comes as Western powers raise concerns that China could dominate the hydrogen industry, with fears that lower-cost hydrogen technologies could outbid OEMs on domestic projects.
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), China held 60% of the world’s 25GW electrolyser manufacturing capacity in 2023.
A Wood Mackenzie report estimated that Chinese electrolyser manufacturers could capture at least one-third of orders outside of Europe and North America this year.
Read more:Chinese electrolysers to capture ‘one-third’ of global orders in 2025: Wood Mackenzie
Hydrogen electrolyser consolidation: The wave reshaping the industry
There is a black hole of consolidation out there, beginning to suck all things related to hydrogen electrolyser value chains into it.
Horizontal and vertical integration within electrolyser production and deployment will accelerate towards the end of this decade. When several of the larger dominoes topple in rapid succession, it will rapidly escalate into a race to the finish line.
We may find that we are 80% through this consolidation play by 2030…
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