(The Center Square) – Cummins, producer of over half of the large truck engines on the road, will invest $1 billion across its manufacturing network in Indiana, New York and North Carolina to produce low-emissions options.
The Monday announcement coincided with a visit by President Joe Biden to Cummins’ Power Generation Facility in Fridley, Minnesota, where the company will produce devices to harness hydrogen energy.
“In just a few weeks, we will begin manufacturing one of the key pieces of technology for green hydrogen production that will help decarbonize our economy and drive the clean energy transition – the electrolyzer,” Cummins CEO Jennifer Rumsey said. “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 critical to our decarburization efforts.”
The $1 billion investment in Cummins’ plants in Indiana, North Carolina and New York will focus on upgrading those facilities to support the industry’s first fuel agnostic engine platforms that will run on low carbon fuels, such as natural gas, diesel and eventually hydrogen.
“The electrolyzer production in Minnesota and investment in our Indiana, North Carolina and New York facilities are reflective of our dual path approach of advancing both engine-based and zero-emission solutions – an approach that is best for all of our stakeholders and our impact on the planet,” Rumsey said.
Biden was to deliver afternoon remarks in Fridley to highlight “how his economic agenda has led to the strongest job growth in history, over $435 billion in major private sector investments nationwide, stronger supply chains here at home, and a Made in America manufacturing and clean energy boom,” according to the White House.
Rumsey said the “historic investments” by Congress “played a key role in our decision to manufacture products here in the U.S., creating more clean-tech jobs and positively impacting our communities.”
At Cummins’ Jamestown Engine Plant in western New York, the company plans to invest $452 million to 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 platform, the X15N, will enter the field test phase later in April, with Cummins’ customers that include Walmart, Werner, Matheson, Natural Ready Mix and others.
In Fridley, Cummins’ zero-emission technology brand, Accelera by Cummins, will invest $10 million to dedicate 89,000 square feet of the company’s 1.1 million square foot facility to electrolyzer production starting April 24.
“Hydrogen produced by electrolyzers can power hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and is used in industrial processes like steel production,” according to a Cummins statement. “Building electrolyzers in Fridley is helping to bring the supply chain for zero-emissions vehicles to the United States – particularly in heavy trucking industries – and employing hundreds of workers in the area with good-paying jobs.”
Information about Cummins’ investments in Indiana and North Carolina “will be made public later.”
