Biden: Cummins Building 'Clean Energy Future Made in America'

As Cummins prepares to start manufacturing electrolyzers in the U.S. to produce clean hydrogen, the company announced that it is investing more than $1 billion across its U.S. engine manufacturing network in Indiana, North Carolina, and New York to produce cleaner engines — an investment that President Joe Biden highlighted as part of his administration’s “Investing in America” tour.

On Monday, April 3, President Biden visited Cummins Power Generation Facility in Fridley, Minnesota, Touting a “clean energy future made in America,” the president said that federal government incentives allow companies like Cummins to manufacture clean-energy technology in the U.S.

“When Cummins first manufactured hydrogen electrolyzers, they had to make them overseas,” he said. “Now, thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act, they are going to be manufactured here in America for the first time.

“Before the pandemic, the supply chain wasn’t something most Americans spent much time thinking about,” Biden said. Now, “instead of relying on equipment made oversees in places like China, supply chains will again be made in America.”

In the future, he said, trucks made in America will be powered by clean hydrogen made in America.

“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,” said Jennifer Rumsey, Cummins President and CEO, in a news release ahead of the visit. “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 decarbonization efforts.”

The investment will provide upgrades to support Cummins new fuel-agnostic engine platforms that will run on low-carbon fuels, including natural gas, diesel, and eventually hydrogen to help decarbonize trucking fleets.

Jamestown Engine Plant and the First Fuel-Agnostic Engines

Cummins plans to invest $452 million in its Jamestown Engine Plant to upgrade its 998,000-square-foot facility in Western New York to produce its new fuel-agnostic internal combustion engine platform.

The X15N is part of the new fuel-agnostic 15L engine platform produced at JEP. Cummins customers, including Walmart, Werner, Matheson, and National Ready Mix, among others, are beginning to test the very first X15N engines. Walmart will receive the first field test unit later in April. Cummins notes this is the first 15L advanced engine platform running on renewable natural gas.

Cummins recently unveiled its X10 fuel-agnostic 10L engine.

Cummins U.S. Electrolyzer Production

At the Fridley facility, Accelera by Cummins — Cummins’ new zero-emission technology brand — will soon manufacture electrolyzers, which are a critical piece of the green hydrogen economy.

Hydrogen produced by electrolyzers can power hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and is used in industrial processes such as steel production. Building electrolyzers in Fridley is helping to bring the supply chain for zero-emissions vehicles to the United States, particularly in heavy trucking industries.

The Cummins Power Systems factory is a 1.1-million-square-foot facility, concentrating on design, product, service engineering and manufacturing. With a $10 million investment, Fridley will dedicate 89,000 square feet of the existing facility to electrolyzer production starting April 24.