For the establishment of a second production line at Herøya, Nel estimates the total capital expenditure commitment for equipment will be approximately €35m ($36.1m), with it planned to be in operation from April 2024.

Nel’s landmark automated electrolyser production facility officially opened in April (2022) with an initial capacity of 500MW, aimed at supporting the growing demand for hydrogen by increasing the industrial-scale rollout of electrolyser systems.

Read more: Pioneering automated electrolyser production facility officially opened by Nel in Norway

The decision to begin the upscaling of the facility comes just weeks after the company announced it had received an order for 200MW of alkaline electrolyser stacks from an undisclosed US-based customer.

Read more: Nel receives €45m order for 200MW of electrolyser equipment from undisclosed US customer

Additionally, on Thursday (August 10) Nel revealed it had received an €8m ($8.26m) order from an undisclosed European client for the delivery of ‘several’ H2Station™ units for the fuelling of light- and heavy-duty fuel cell-electric vehicles.

From the offset, Nel has eyed up plans of expanding the facility’s capacity to 2GW, not only widening its offering to prospected hydrogen producers, but also offering jobs to communities around the plant.

Commenting on the planned expansion, Håkon Volldal, CEO of Nel, said, “The expansion means that Nel is strengthening its position as a global frontrunner for development and industrialisation of green hydrogen technology and provides Norway with a great opportunity to take on the role as the leading exporter of electrolyser equipment to a rapidly growing market.

“The Herøya expansion supports what we have previously communicated: when demand is present, we will add capacity. The recent 200MW contract will not be a one-off, and as we see a potential for additional large orders in the foreseeable future, we have decided to expand our production capacity.”