OEM&Lieferant Ausgabe 2/2021

102 Fuel cells “Unit costs will fall by a factor of 5” Armin Diez, CTO and COO of EKPO Fuel Cell Technologies in an interview with OEM&Supplier The fuel cell has long been considered an alternative to the combustion engine or battery-electric driving. ElringKlinger has been active in this field for over 20 years. Together with Plastic Omnium from France, the joint venture EKPO Fuel Cell Technologies was founded in March. Armin Diez, CTO and COO of EKPO, talks about the joint venture‘s goals and strategy. Images: © EKPO Fuel Cell Technologies Mr. Diez, EKPO has been active in the fuel cell sector for around 20 years through its parent companies ElringKlinger and Plas- tic Omnium. Tell us about your beginnings with fuel cells ... Armin Diez: As far as ElringKlinger is con- cerned, we started developing the first bi- polar plates for fuel cells in 1999. The pro- duction process for manufacturing a bipolar plate is similar to that of a cylinder-head gasket – and here we are the global market leader with a great deal of expertise. The step from gasket to bipolar plate was there- fore an obvious one. We were in contact with a major OEM in southern Germany. At that time, we were also already thinking about industrialization and had already se- cured some important patents. That‘s how it all started. Joint Venture https://t1p.de/hbhp Can you give us an overview of the product portfolio? EKPO is a full-range supplier of fuel cell stacks and components. Our technolo- gy and products are based on know-how that we have built up over more than two decades. Our goal is clearly defined: The development and large-scale production of stack components such as bipolar plates or media modules as well as high-perfor- mance fuel cell stacks to further advance CO2-neutral mobility – whether on road, rail, water or off-road. Our product range is based on metal bipolar plates and our own in-house assembled membrane elec- trode assembly (MEA). This allows us to set standards in power density while offering durability suitable for use primarily in com- mercial vehicles. Fuel cells are not a new technology, but they have attracted a lot of attention in the last 18 months. Why is that? What is being done differently now? The technology has lain dormant for many years, with us constantly working on it. The growing awareness in society of global warming is now spurring the issue. This is to our benefit. Zero-emission mobility is much higher on the political agenda: Europe is joining forc- es and launching transnational projects. The goal is to drive a massive expansion of green hydrogen production capacity in the near future to decarbonize industry and mobility. 23 of 27 EU member states are involved. France and Germany in particu- lar are leading the way and have recently announced funding budgets of €7 billion and €9 billion respectively in hydrogen development. But it‘s not just Germany and Europe that are stepping on the gas here - we‘re see- ing a global trend from Japan, Korea, China to Europe and North America. The goals of government funding also include the further industrialization of fuel cell tech- nology. Another very important point: Due to the progress and expansion of regener- atively generated energy (wind, sun, water) as well as the advances in electrolysers, Fuel cell stacks from EKPO Fuel Cell Technologies are characterized by very high power density.