Accelera™ by Cummins, a business segment of Cummins Inc. (NYSE: CMI), will supply a 90-megawatt (MW) proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyzer system for Varennes Carbon Recycling’s (VCR) plant in Quebec, Canada – a key step in advancing North America’s green hydrogen economy.
VCR is a consortium between Shell, Suncor and Proman, with the support of the Canadian and Quebec governments. The biorefinery will be powered by the exclusive waste-to-methanol technology platform developed by Enerkem.
This electrolyzer system will be comprised of four HyLYZER®-5000s—Accelera’s largest electrolyzer product. Each HyLYZER-5000 utilizes 25MW of electricity and can produce up to 10 tons of hydrogen per day. This first-of-its-kind installation will provide the capacity needed to generate clean, renewable hydrogen and oxygen for VCR’s conversion of waste material to low-carbon-intensity fuels and circular chemicals. The facility is under construction and scheduled to be operational in 2025.
An electrolyzer splits water into hydrogen and oxygen. The hydrogen can be stored as a compressed gas or liquid and used as an energy-dense, clean power source to help decarbonize a variety of hard-to-abate sectors. The VCR plant will use both the renewable hydrogen and oxygen to recycle carbon and hydrogen from waste materials.
Cummins launched its zero-emissions technology brand Accelera on March 8, with a broad portfolio of market-leading renewable hydrogen solutions that have been part of many of the world’s hydrogen “firsts,” including powering the world’s largest PEM electrolyzer in operation at 20MW in Bécancour, Canada; the world’s first megawatt-scale demonstration plant for storing wind energy in the natural gas grid in Windgas Falkenhagen, Germany; and the world’s first hydrogen refueling station for ships, cars, trucks and industrial customers in Antwerp, Belgium.
