Joe Biden, President of the United States, recently visited Cummins Inc. in Fridley, Minnesota (USA) as part of his administration’s investing in America tour. During his visit, he further discussed how his investing in America agenda is supporting manufacturing, innovation and a clean energy economy, as well as creating good-paying jobs in communities like Fridley and across the country.
According to Jennifer Rumsey, President and CEO, Cummins, in just a few weeks, the company will begin manufacturing one of the key pieces of technology for green hydrogen production that will help decarbonise the economy and drive the clean energy transition – the electrolyzer. Support from the Biden Administration and Congress with legislation like the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act are driving the clean energy economy forward in the United States and are critical to its decarbonisation efforts.
Cummins has announced that in addition to recent investments in Fridley, the company is investing more than $1 billion across its U.S. engine manufacturing network in Indiana, North Carolina and New York. The investment will provide upgrades to those facilities to support the industry’s first fuel agnostic engine platform that will run on low carbon fuels, including natural gas, diesel and eventually hydrogen. The historic investments included in those pieces of legislation played a key role in Cummins’ decision to manufacture products in the U.S., creating more clean-tech jobs and positively impacting the communities, reveals Rumsey. The electrolyzer production in Minnesota and investment in Indiana, North Carolina and New York facilities are reflective of the company’s dual path approach of advancing both engine-based and zero-emission solutions.
The company plans to invest $452M in its Jamestown Engine Plant (JEP) in New York and upgrade its 998,000 square-foot facility to produce the industry’s first fuel-agnostic internal combustion engine platform that leverages a range of lower carbon fuel types. The X15N is part of the new fuel-agnostic 15-litre engine platform produced at JEP.
At the Fridley facility, Accelera by Cummins — Cummins’ zero-emission technology brand – manufactures electrolysers, which are a critical piece of the green hydrogen hydrogen economy. Hydrogen produced by electrolysers can power hydrogen fuel cell vehicles as well as industrial processes like steel production. Building electrolysers in Fridley is helping bring the supply chain for zero-emissions vehicles to the United States, particularly in heavy trucking industries.