Johnson Matthey will deploy Infor MES at its hydrogen fuel cell manufacturing facility in Swindon, UK.

Following years of research and development efforts, the business is now investing to strengthen its manufacturing capabilities to meet demand and drive growth. By integrating machines and plant equipment with business systems, Infor MES will deliver real-time control over operations, supporting operators with every task.

Simon Jones, Johnson Matthey Operations Director of Hydrogen Technologies, said, “We recognised the need to invest in functionally-rich systems to keep pace with the increasing demand for hydrogen fuel cells and electrolysers. Infor MES will allow us to ramp up production to meet customer demand and fulfil our ambitious growth plans.”

Andrew Kinder, Infor SVP of Industry and Solution Strategy, said, “The decarbonisation sector is fast moving with innovation at its very heart, so it requires solutions that can deliver real value quickly. Infor MES is perfectly placed to deliver this value, underpinning crucial digital transformation for our customers’ manufacturing operations.”

Johnson Matthey recently announced the expansion of its manufacturing facility in Perstorp, Sweden, to meet growing demand for formaldehyde – a versatile building block used in various everyday products. The expansion, which will be operational by the end of March 2024, will increase the site’s capacity by approximately 50%.

The company has also signed an agreement with Doosan Enerbility to develop hydrogen-fuelled power plants in South Korea.

The partnership supports the South Korean Government’s plans to increase the share of clean hydrogen-based power generation to 2.1% by 2030 and 7.1% by 2036.

Johnson Matthey will provide innovative ammonia cracking technology and catalyst, which converts clean ammonia into nitrogen and hydrogen. The clean hydrogen can then be used to power turbines, which are key components of hydrogen-fuelled or hydrogen-LNG fuelled combined cycle power plants.

Analysis from the Korea Institute of Machinery & Materials shows that using ammonia cracking technology to enable hydrogen-fuelled turbines could reduce carbon emissions by 10.4% when a gas turbine is fired up with 30% hydrogen.

Hongook Park, CEO of Doosan Enerbility’s Power Services Business Group, said ammonia cracking, which is helping to lower the entry barrier to combined cycle hydrogen power generation, is a key technology that will contribute to carbon neutrality.

He said, “This partnership signifies that the entire value chain for combined cycle hydrogen power generation will be built, resulting in hydrogen production through to hydrogen end-users.”