Cellcentric settles on factory location in Germany

Cellcentric has announced that it has signed an option agreement with the town of Weilheim/Teck to acquire a plot of land. The future location of the large-scale fuel cell production facility is therefore in the district of Esslingen in Baden-Württemberg. Cellcentric has been behind schedule with the construction of the factory for some time now. Originally, the first excavators were supposed to roll in as early as 2023, but the target was later set for autumn 2024. Now the development work is set to begin this year. According to Cellcentric, the delayed purchase of the plots of land has long been a stumbling block.

In this respect, the contract that has now been signed puts an end to the hanging game – at least for the time being, as the Stuttgarter Zeitung reports that a citizen is questioning the legality of the Rosenloh industrial estate in Weilheim and has filed an appeal with the Administrative Court. The lawsuit is directed against a municipal council resolution from December 2023, which will most likely delay the project further, according to the report.

Cellcentric does not mention this new development in its announcement. According to current estimates, operations will commence “around 2030,” the joint venture states, pointing out that “maximum flexibility in terms of scope of work and start-up speed of the KLIMA|WERK is of crucial importance.” The German town of Weilheim is honouring this wish with the option agreement.

The new schedule differs greatly from the previous plans. The first systems were originally due to be delivered from Weilheim in 2026. Last summer, 2027/2028 was still on the cards. Now it is “around 2030.” Construction-related reasons are not solely responsible for the new postponement: Cellcentric states that it is ‘acting with a sense of proportion’ and “flexibly positioning itself for different ramp-up scenarios for fuel cell trucks in order to be able to react optimally to future market conditions.” The joint venture specifies that the changes in the automotive industry, the delayed development of the required hydrogen infrastructure and the availability and pricing of green hydrogen are important factors influencing market conditions and, of course, demand. Cellcentric thus currently expects a rather delayed ramp-up.

Cellcentric also has an existing pilot production facility for fuel cell systems at the Esslingen-Pliensauvorstadt site, which could be upgraded in the future. Last summer, it was announced that the plant there is to be expanded in order to continue assembling fuel cell systems after the pilot phase until production in Weilheim is scaled up. Cellcentric no longer mentions this in its latest press release, but emphasises that production in industrial quality is currently being driven forward in Esslingen. And that this is an “important milestone on the road to large-scale production according to automotive standards, using efficient production processes.”

Cellcentric employs more than 100 people in Esslingen-Pliensauvorstadt, with 10,300 square metres of production and logistics space as well as office and administration rooms at its disposal. The company’s declared aim is to sell fuel cell systems in large series worldwide “that achieve the best possible total cost of ownership (TCO) in the highly competitive transport industry,” according to Cellcentric.

The joint venture is naturally focussing on the planned FCEV trucks of the two shareholders Daimler Truck and Volvo, but it is also conceivable that they could be used in other vehicles such as coaches or sold to third parties. In addition to pure production, Cellcentric plans to cover the entire ecosystem around fuel cell systems from production to maintenance and recycling.

It will certainly be interesting to see how Cellcentric synchronises with the market launch of Daimler Truck’s GenH2 truck. Its series production was previously planned for 2027. But here, too, the development process is dragging on. From the end of 2026, 100 fuel cell trucks from the next development stage of the GenH2 Truck will initially be delivered to customers. Series production is then scheduled for the “end of the decade.”

cellcentric.net, stuttgarter-nachrichten.de (in German)