The company Inocel, which designs high-powered fuel cells, is going to set up a “gigafactory” in Belfort, a 15,000 m2 factory where production is due to start in September 2024, with 700 jobs to be created in the long term, it announced at a press conference on Wednesday.
Inocel, whose research and development center is in Grenoble, and in conjunction with the French Atomic Energy Commission (CEA), will set up its high-volume production plant in Belfort in a 15,000 m2 building that has already been built, which will accelerate the phase towards industrialization. The plant is scheduled to produce its first systems in September 2024. The goal is to reach 30,000 by 2030. A total of 150 jobs are planned by the end of 2024, and 700 by 2030.
Young French company
Inocel is a young French company in the hydrogen sector, created a year ago by entrepreneur Mauro Ricci and adventurer Mike Horn. It designs high-powered fuel cells: the Inocel Z300 fuel cell, for example, offers 300 kilowatts (kW) of power, equivalent to the engine power of a 44-ton truck, contained in a 50-centimeter cube that weighs 100 kilos.
An unbeatable power-to-weight-to-volume ratio, which meets a need that is “unmet today,” says Jules Billiet, the company’s managing director. Inocel will offer this solution for stationary applications (construction generator, emergency generator), heavy transport (trucks, construction equipment, railways, etc.) and maritime transport.
Product recognized on the market
The company has confirmed a billion euros in order intents: “The market has validated our product”, Mr. Billiet is already delighted. Mr. Ricci praised the “quality, consistency and coherence of the hydrogen ecosystem” in the north of the Franche-Comté region. “You bring an additional brick to the industry and it is a major brick of French and European sovereignty in terms of hydrogen,” said Marie-Guite Dufay, socialist president of the Burgundy-Franche-Comté regional council. “Our ambition: to make Belfort the capital of hydrogen,” added the LR president of Greater Belfort, Damien Meslot. The northern part of Franche-Comté has leading players in this sector in terms of production (McPhy), storage (Faurecia) and use (Alstom).
