Shell-backed VCR details Cummins electrolyser order in Quebec

Biofuels and circular chemicals producer Varennes Carbon Recycling (VCR) today provided further information about a 90-MW electrolyser supply order awarded recently to a business segment of Cummins Inc (NYSE:CMI).

As previously announced, Cummins’ newly-rebranded business unit now called Accelera has received an order from VCR to deliver proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolysers for a plant in Quebec, Canada.

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VCR, a consortium between Shell, Suncor and Proman, said on Monday it has purchased four HyLYZER-5000 electrolysers, each with the capacity to produce up to 10 tonnes of hydrogen per day. The system is intended for a biorefinery equipped with the waste-to-methanol technology platform developed by Enerkem. The plant will use both green hydrogen and oxygen to recycle carbon and hydrogen from waste materials.

“Accelera’s PEM electrolyser product, when coupled with the Enerkem technology platform, will double the yield of the methanol produced from waste material. The synergies of the colocation of the biorefinery and the electrolyser, powered with Quebec clean electricity, really set a new precedent in the biofuel and circular chemicals sectors,” stated Cole Henderson, General Manager & Portfolio Engineering Director at VCR.

In turn, Amy Davis, president of Accelera by Cummins, commented that this will be the first installation of Accelera’s HyLYZER-5000 and the first time the firm’s electrolysers will power biofuel and circular chemical production.

The plant is already being built and is expected to become fully operational in 2025.