Accelera by Cummins, a business segment of Cummins, will supply a 90-megawatt (MW) proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyzer system for Varennes Carbon Recycling’s (VCR) plant in Quebec, Canada – a key step in advancing North America’s green H₂ economy. VCR is a consortium between Shell, Suncor and Proman, with the support of the Canadian and Quebec governments. The biorefinery will be powered by the exclusive waste-to-methanol technology platform developed by Enerkem.

This electrolyzer system will be comprised of four HyLYZER-5000s—Accelera’s largest electrolyzer product. Each HyLYZER-5000 utilizes 25 MW of electricity and can produce up to 10 tpd of H₂. This first-of-its-kind installation will provide the capacity needed to generate clean, renewable H₂ and oxygen for VCR’s conversion of waste material to low carbon-intensity fuels and circular chemicals. The facility is under construction and scheduled to be operational in 2025.

An electrolyzer splits water into H₂ and oxygen. The H₂ can be stored as a compressed gas or liquid and used as an energy-dense, clean power source to help decarbonize a variety of hard-to-abate sectors. The VCR plant will use renewable H₂ and oxygen to recycle carbon and H₂ from waste materials.

Cummins launched its zero-emissions technology brand Accelera on March 8, with a broad portfolio of market-leading renewable H₂ solutions that have been part of many of the world’s H₂ firsts, including powering the world’s largest PEM electrolyzer in operation at 20 MW in Bécancour, Canada; the world’s first megawatt-scale demonstration plant for storing wind energy in the natural gas grid in Windgas Falkenhagen, Germany; and the world’s first H₂ refueling station for ships, cars, trucks and industrial customers in Antwerp, Belgium.