Nedstack Fuel Cell Technology, AE Driven Solutions GmbH, and the Chair of Production Engineering of E-Mobility Components of RWTH Aachen University announced a strategic partnership to accelerate the industrialization of proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell technology in Europe, and to contribute to the European Union's ambitious target of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

The partnership brings together the complementary strengths of the three participants, with Nedstack upscaling its fuel cell production organization, and AE Driven Solutions acting as an industrialization partner on behalf of RWTH Aachen University. The goal is to enable cutting-edge research in the field of fuel cell production system development, advanced manufacturing, and cost planning.

The collaboration aims to nurture European domestic fuel cell manufacturing—a strategic net-zero industry under the European Net-Zero Industries Act—and to support the growth of green jobs in Europe. Through this partnership, Nedstack will source services and support from AE Driven Solutions which serves as a collaborative academic institution for RWTH Aachen University.

“We are excited to partner with AE Driven Solutions and PEM of RWTH Aachen University to employ the principles of advanced manufacturing theory on our Fuel Cell Giga Factory (Gigafactory?) project which constitutes one of Europe’s largest fuel cell production environments,” said Bas Strijker, COO of Nedstack. “This partnership will enable us and our supply chain to leverage the collective strengths of our organizations to deliver on Europe’s H₂ economy targets and to contribute to a more sustainable future.”

“This collaboration is a significant step forward in driving the development of advanced manufacturing of PEM fuel cells in Europe,” said Strijker. “By fostering domestic production, we can ensure a sustainable supply chain for these critical components and contribute to the growth of net-zero industries in Europe. This will create green jobs and climate protection measures while contributing to energy security in Europe.”

“The partnership with Nedstack and PEM of RWTH Aachen University is an exciting opportunity for AE Driven Solutions to contribute to Europe’s net-zero greenhouse gas emissions target by employing our widely recognized expertise on advanced manufacturing of fuel cell technology to one of Europe’s promising case studies,” said Tobias Reil, CEO of AE Driven Solutions GmbH. “We are looking forward to working together and contributing to gigawatt scale manufacturing of fuel cells while harvesting significant cost reductions in the process.”

“We are pleased to collaborate with Nedstack and AE Driven Solutions to drive the development of advanced manufacturing of PEM fuel cells,” said Mario Kehrer, Chief Engineer at PEM of RWTH Aachen University. “This partnership will enable us to apply our leading position in fuel cell production engineering to a state-of-the-art case study and to participate in building the fuel cell factory of the future.”