Plastic Omnium starts construction of Chinese mega-plant for H2 pressure vessels

PO-Rein, the 50/50 joint venture between Plastic Omnium (Levallois, France) and Zhejiang Rein (Shoazing, Zhejiang province, China), a subsidiary of the state-owned energy company Shenergy Group (Shanghai, China), is constructing a 28,000-square-meter mega-plant in the Jiading Hydrogen Park in Shanghai. The new factory will complement Plastic Omnium’s first hydrogen pressure vessel production production plant in Shanghai which began operations in 2024.

Announced in 2023, the PO-Rein joint venture enables both partners to take full advantage of Plastic Omnium’s technological leadership in the field of high-pressure hydrogen storage and to benefit from Rein’s industrial footprint in the production of hydrogen transport and storage systems dedicated to the Chinese market.

“This new plant is the concrete expression of our PO-Rein joint venture’s ambitions in the Chinese hydrogen mobility market,” says Laurent Favre, CEO of Plastic Omnium. “It gives us the production capacity we need to seize every opportunity and become one of the big winners in the transformation of mobility in the country. At the same time, we are accelerating the development of the entire hydrogen value chain and contributing to China’s carbon neutrality roadmap.”

Ni Bin, president of Shenergy Group, believes that “PO-Rein will seize opportunities, actively push forward with the construction of the plant and ensure that advanced hydrogen storage products can be brought to market as soon as possible.” Bin says that it will also support the construction of Shanghai as a demonstration city for hydrogen energy and set an example for Sino-French commercial and cultural exchanges.

In 2022, Plastic Omnium announced the construction of what it claims is the largest hydrogen pressure vessel plant in Europe, located in Compiègne, France, which will produce up to 80,000 Type 4 tanks/year starting in 2025. 

In August 2023, it was also reported that Plastic Omnium will invest in two production sites in the U.S. to support production of Type IV hydrogen pressure vessels and full hydrogen systems for 40,000 vehicles per year starting in 2027, in response to an award from a large automaker.

Plastic Omnium is expanding its expertise, product portfolio and industrial footprint to reach sales of €3 billion in hydrogen by 2030.