American engine major Cummins has announced its plans to invest $1 billion (Rs 8,247 crore) across its manufacturing network in Indiana, North Carolina and New York. The investment will to provide upgrades to those facilities to support fuel-agnostic engine platforms that will run on low-carbon fuels, including natural gas, diesel and eventually hydrogen.
On April 3, US President Joe Biden will visit Cummins in Fridley, Minnesota (USA) as part of his Administration’s Investing in America tour. During the visit, President Biden will discuss 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.
Jennifer Rumsey, President & CEO, Cummins said, “In just a few weeks, we will begin manufacturing one of the key pieces of technology for green hydrogen production that will help decarbonise our economy and drive the clean energy transition – the electrolyser.”
“The electrolyser 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,” added Rumsey.
The company says over half of all medium- and heavy-duty trucks on the road in the U.S. use Cummins engines. This investment is intended to retain the thousands of current engineering and manufacturing jobs and support the creation of hundreds of new jobs across the company’s New York, North Carolina and Indiana footprint.
The announcement includes Cummins’ plans to invest $452 million (Rs 3,727 crore) in its Jamestown Engine Plant (JEP) to upgrade its 998,000 square-foot facility in Western New York to produce the industry’s first fuel-agnostic internal combustion engine (ICE) 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 economy. Hydrogen produced by electrolysers can power hydrogen fuel cell vehicles as well as industrial processes like steel production. Building electrolysers in Fridley the company says will help bring the supply chain for zero-emissions vehicles to the United States – particularly in heavy trucking industries – and is employing hundreds of workers in the area with good-paying jobs.
