Fuel cell truck supplier to build in Bolingbrook

BOLINGBROOK - Hyzon Motors Inc. Monday announced plans to build a factory in Bolingbrook to make fuel cell membrane electrode assemblies used in commercial trucks.

The new Hyzon Innovation Center will house a production line that, when at full capacity, is expected to produce enough electrode assemblies to cover the production needs for up to 12,000 hydrogen fuel cell powered, zero-emission trucks every year. The facility is expected to commence production of assemblies this fall, and is planned to open with 28,000 square feet of manufacturing space, before expanding in a second phase to 80,000 square feet.

The Rochester, New York-based company expects to eventually fill up to 50 full-time positions at this production facility.

The membrane electrode assembly is the critical component of a fuel cell and accounts for about 70% of the cost of a fuel cell stack. These assemblies are currently produced in Europe, Japan, Korea and China at commercial scale. Smaller scale production in the United States has so far been a supply and cost bottleneck for U.S. fuel cell vehicle production, the company said.

As announced previously, Hyzon plans to go public through a merger with Decarbonization Plus Acquisition Corp. The merger is expected to close in the second quarter of this year.

"We chose the greater Chicago area due to its top-tier universities, national labs, equipment companies and manufacturers, and a large pool of talent for recruiting a highly skilled workforce," said George Gu, chairman and co-founder of Hyzon.