Stellantis JV Symbio inaugurates Europe's largest hydrogen fuel cell plant

Symbio, the hydrogen mobility joint venture between Stellantis, Forvia and Michelin, has inaugurated Europe's largest gigafactory for hydrogen fuel cells in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in France.

The site -- known as SymphonHy -- will be able to produce 50,000 fuel cell systems per year by 2026, from its current capacity of 16,000, Symbio said in a statement on Tuesday.

Fuel cells use the chemical energy of hydrogen or other fuels to produce electricity. In the case of hydrogen, the only byproducts are electricity, water and heat.

Stellantis launched hydrogen-powered mid-size vans from Citroen, Opel/Vauxhall and Peugeot in 2021 and aims to expand its hydrogen offer to large vans in Europe in 2024 and in the U.S. in 2025, and potentially heavy-duty trucks.

The European vans are built at Opel’s home factory in Rüsselsheim, Germany.

"Supplied by Symbio with its fuel cells, Stellantis will continue to extend its hydrogen offer beyond already available midsize vans in Europe, with large vans, Ram pickups, and heavy-duty trucks for the North American market," the statement said.

SymphonHy is part of HyMotive, a 1-billion-euro project supported by the European Union and France's government that is expected to create 1,000 jobs.