- 50-50 partnership focuses on filling the pipeline critical to advancing the hydrogen economy.
WILMINGTON, Del. — The Chemours Company (“Chemours”) (NYSE: CC), a global chemistry company leading in Titanium Technologies, Thermal & Specialized Solutions, and Advanced Performance Materials, announced plans to enter into a joint venture with BWT FUMATECH Mobility GmbH, an established player in multiple hydrogen markets, focused on membrane manufacturing in the field of fuel cell technology.
Completion of the transaction is subject to customary regulatory approvals. The joint venture—THE Mobility F.C. Membranes Company GmbH—is rooted in both companies’ understanding of the critical role heavy-duty fuel cell (HDFC) membranes play in driving the global hydrogen economy. Through this partnership, Chemours and BWT will integrate their complementary capabilities, resources, and technological expertise—as well as more than 85 years of combined experience in fuel cell membrane innovation—to expedite supply to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and to ensure growing demand is met in the near and long terms.
Chemours—inventor of Nafion™ ion exchange membranes and dispersions, which are inextricable to the hydrogen economy—possesses great expertise in the production of the building blocks of high-performance HDFC membranes. Located in Germany, THE Mobility F.C. Membranes Company will cooperate with FUMATECH—a subsidiary of the private Austrian-based BWT Group—and its existing production technology and line operations to convert Chemours Nafion™ ion exchange materials into industry-leading end-product membranes. The companies estimate that within 12 months of startup, the joint venture will be able to ramp up the capacity of manufacturing heavy-duty humidifier and fuel cell membranes for strategic long-term customers.
“The estimated size of the heavy-duty fuel cell membrane market is expected to grow to about $900M by 2030, which speaks volumes to how critical this technology is, and will continue to be, as the planet pursues robust goals for decarbonization,” said Denise Dignam, President of Advanced Performance Materials at Chemours. “Chemours is committed to taking on the world’s biggest challenges through the power of our chemistry and driving investment in supporting the hydrogen economy. This joint venture with BWT FUMATECH demonstrates the exact type of collaboration that empowers us to uphold that commitment. This is an ideal partnership, possessing everything required to go from monomer to membrane with the agility, efficiency, and production volume necessary to bring affordable hydrogen energy solutions to mass markets.”
“In coming together to combine the best assets and competencies of both partners, THE Mobility F.C. Membranes Company GmbH, will focus on establishing the resources and processes to secure the path for long-term success in line with the growth within the hydrogen space,” said Andreas Weissenbacher, CEO BWT. “Ultimately, our work together will fill a pipeline of needed products critical to achieving a global, sustainable hydrogen economy.”
Climate policies, such as the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), European Green Deal, and other future-oriented policy frameworks on the EU and member state level, will drive significant changes to the energy, transportation, and manufacturing industries as well as spark innovation in clean technology with billions of dollars in new climate and energy spending. With the foundation of Chemours’ strong polymer technology and FUMATECH’s optimized manufacturing technology, the joint venture company aims to play a significant role in servicing the hydrogen economy pipeline with a supply of highly engineered HDFC membranes. At the outset, THE Mobility F.C. Membranes Company will supply to the European Union, United States, Japan, China, and Korea, enabling downstream customers to accelerate broad conversion to green, hydrogen-powered heavy-duty transportation.
About The Chemours Company
The Chemours Company (NYSE: CC) is a global leader in Titanium Technologies, Thermal & Specialized Solutions, and Advanced Performance Materials providing its customers with solutions in a wide range of industries with market-defining products, application expertise and chemistry-based innovations. We deliver customized solutions with a wide range of industrial and specialty chemicals products for markets, including coatings, plastics, refrigeration and air conditioning, transportation, semiconductor and consumer electronics, general industrial, and oil and gas. Our flagship products include prominent brands such as Ti-Pure™, Opteon™, Freon™, Teflon™, Viton™, Nafion™, and Krytox™. The company has approximately 6,400 employees and 29 manufacturing sites serving approximately 3,200 customers in approximately 120 countries. Chemours is headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware and is listed on the NYSE under the symbol CC.
For more information, we invite you to visit Chemours.com or follow us on Twitter @Chemours or LinkedIn.
About FUMATECH
FUMATECH (Functional Membranes and Plant Technology) is part of the BWT Group, a private water treatment company founded in the 1990. FUMATECH, headquartered in Bietigheim-Bissingen, Germany, has established itself as a technological pioneer in the production of fuel cell membranes, ion-exchange membranes for energy storage and separation technology. The company has extensive expertise in areas ranging from the formulation of raw materials and the processing of materials to create membranes suited to their technical application. Visit fumatech.com for more information.
About BWT
The BWT – Best Water Technology – Group is a leading water technology company in Europe with a staff of more than 5,500, working on innovative, economic and ecologically friendly water treatment technologies to provide private households, industry, commerce, hotels and municipalities with the safest, healthiest and most hygienic water possible for their day-to-day needs. BWT provides modern water treatment systems and services for drinking water, process water, pool water and, especially, WFI – water for injection for the pharmaceutical and biotech industry. The company’s research and development staff works on new techniques and materials using cutting-edge methods to develop economical and ecologically friendly products. Employees work particularly hard to create products which use fewer resources and less energy, thereby reducing CO2 emissions.
Sustainability is in BWT’s DNA, and every BWT product contributes to the conservation of our most valuable resource, water. BWT’s Claim – For You and Planet Blue – is today more relevant than ever before, given the challenges our society faces worldwide today. With its unique and patented water treatment technologies, BWT contributes every day to “Change the World – sip by sip” – not only through the creation of “Bottle Free Zones” but also with its worldwide leading know how in the development and production of high-performance membranes for the fuel cell – the energy converter of the 21st century.
More information about BWT Group and their products and services is available at www.bwt.com.
Read the most up to date Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Industry news at FuelCellsWorks
