Nel has selected Plymouth Charter Township, a suburb of Detroit, Michigan, as the location for its next gigafactory. Fully developed, the factory will be among the world's largest electrode manufacturing facilities, with a total annual capacity of 4 GW Alkaline and PEM technology.
"Plymouth Charter Township is an ideal location for Nel. Here, we have access to a highly educated workforce, universities and research institutions and we are close to our collaborating partner, General Motors. In addition, the government and the authorities of Michigan have provided a very attractive financial support package for us," said Nel's CEO, Håkon Volldal.
The Michigan Strategic Fund (MSF) decided to support the project with a $10 million Michigan Business Development grant. The MSF board also approved a 15-year, 100% State Essential Services Assessment (SESA) Exemption Request, valued at up to $6.25 million to support the project. Nel has so far secured more than $50 million in support for its Michigan site. Pending approval of additional state and federal applications, this amount could increase to around $150 million.
"This investment will bring good-paying jobs to the region and build on our leadership in cars, chips and clean energy," Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said. "We will continue to let the world know about our state's attractive business climate, talented workforce and commitment to clean hydrogen development as we work to bring these transformational investments home to Michigan."
The manufacturing facility in Plymouth will build on Nel's fully automated electrolyser concept, which the company developed at its production facility in Herøya, Norway. Similarly, the company's expansion of the facility in Wallingford will play a critical role in creating a blueprint for scaling up the production of Nel's PEM electrolysers.
The factory will be built in steps to match supply with demand. A final investment decision for constructing this facility has not been made yet.