Plug Power Inc. has signed a collaboration agreement with Atlas Copco and Fives to jointly develop hydrogen liquefaction plants (also known as hydrogen liquefiers).

This announcement comes on the heels of Plug Power’s acquisition of Joule Processing LLC last month. The proven cryogenic process technology that Joule developed for the gas processing industry is directly applicable to hydrogen liquefaction and has the potential to reduce the cost of liquified hydrogen by 25%. This acquisition will also represent a capital expenditure savings of approximately $200 MM for Plug Power over the next four years by bringing hydrogen liquefaction capabilities in house. Plug Power purchased Joule for a total consideration of up to $160 MM, with $30 MM upfront and $130 MM of future earn outs based on meeting liquefier efficiency, third-party sales and gross margin targets. Joule’s liquefaction process is being deployed in Plug Power’s green hydrogen plant under development in Texas. 

Through this long-term cooperation, Plug Power, Atlas Copco Gas and Process and Fives will address some of the biggest needs facing the liquid hydrogen production industry, such as improving the efficiency, cost and lead time of hydrogen liquefiers. This new collaboration adds the deep technical and manufacturing experience of Atlas Copco and Fives as key suppliers to enable Plug Power to successfully deliver hydrogen liquefiers into its growing fleet of green hydrogen production plants and also for sale to third parties looking to adopt highly efficient liquid hydrogen systems.

The parties have already undertaken significant development efforts and Plug Power expects to commission hydrogen liquefier trains with 15 tpd and 30 tpd capacities starting in 2023. As the largest buyer of liquid hydrogen in the world, Plug Power’s growing national network of hydrogen plants will supply 500 tpd of liquid green hydrogen by 2025 and 1,000 tpd globally by 2028 - presenting a significant opportunity for the partners to drive scale and standardization in hydrogen liquefiers.

Under the agreement, Plug Power will design, manufacture, install, operate and maintain hydrogen liquefiers for its own use and for third parties. Atlas Copco Gas and Process will design and manufacture custom turboexpanders and compressors related to the hydrogen liquefaction plants. Fives will manufacture the brazed aluminum heat exchangers and optimize their integration in cold boxes.