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Daimler Truck + Volvo = cellcentric

Daimler Truck + Volvo = cellcentric

As previously announced (see H2-international, August 2020), Daimler Truck and the Volvo Group have embarked upon a joint venture in which each company holds a 50 percent ownership stake. At the beginning of March 2021, the two organizations announced that the company formerly trading as Daimler Truck Fuel Cell GmbH & Co. KG had been renamed cellcentric GmbH & Co. KG.

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Daimler Truck + Volvo = cellcentric

Think tank in Lusatia

Minister Schulze - PtX
© BMU/Sascha Hilgers
© BMU/Sascha Hilgers

A former coal region in Germany is attempting to transform itself: At the beginning of March 2021, in the city of Cottbus, German environment minister Svenja Schulze and Minister President of Brandenburg Dietmar Woidke started work on a new center of excellence. The PtX Lab Lausitz aims to become a think tank, discussion platform and launch pad for new projects focusing on green hydrogen and its derived products within Europe. Funding comes from an investment of around EUR 180 million from the structural enhancement law in the run-up to 2024.

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Daimler Truck + Volvo = cellcentric

ElringKlinger + Plastic Omnium = EKPO

In early March 2021, ElringKlinger and Plastic Omnium declared their intention to give fresh impetus to the production of fuel cell stacks and components with their new join venture – EKPO Fuel Cell Technologies. According to company reports, the aim of EKPO, in which ElringKlinger holds a 60 percent ownership stake, is to manufacture fuel cell components at competitive prices “at first mainly for commercial vehicles and buses and then also for cars.” A production figure of up to 10,000 stacks a year is forecast. Company bosses explained that there is sufficient production capacity available to be able to realize a sales volume of between EUR 700 million and EUR 1 billion by the year 2030 which equates to a market share of 10 percent to 15 percent.

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A bumpy ride

A bumpy ride

Weichai Truck - Ballard
© Ballard

The highs and lows of hydrogen and fuel cell stocks in recent weeks can be best described as a bumpy ride following a significant and rapid increase in prices. It seems to me that the market has entered a major consolidation phase. Yet this is no reason to lose faith, especially as the wild fluctuations that have been raging since early December 2020 – with some stocks climbing more than 50 percent inside a month – begged a correction. A process which is now in full swing. At the end of the day, it’s the future of the industry that counts and so here I stand by the old stock market maxim: The trend is your friend.

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FuelCell Energy – business valued too high

FuelCell Energy – business valued too high

There has been a stark rise in the valuation of the business from around USD 100 million to now over USD 9 billion, with the stock price increasing from USD 1 – USD 2 to USD 29. I would go so far as to call it totally excessive. I got early wind of FuelCell Energy [Nasdaq: FCEL] as a turnaround after a management consultancy had “cleaned it up” and after the company had undergone a period of refinancing and restructuring and happily onboarded Orion Energy Partners as a key investor.

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Nikola Motors – uncertainty is waning

Nikola Motors – uncertainty is waning

There are two sides to every story. And that’s very much the case with the planned cooperation with General Motors, GM, and the cancellation of 2,500 battery electric refuse trucks for Republic Services which turned out to be rather fortuitous in retrospect. In the GM scenario, Nikola would itself have had to spend over USD 700 million on tools, among other things. The participation of GM with USD 2 billion as a “valuable consideration” would have resulted in a dilution of the number of issued stocks.

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