Hyzon, the Illinois-based manufacturer and global supplier of hydrogen fuel cell systems, will halt its operations in the Netherlands and Australia and focus on North America, according to a news release.
In comparison to North American efforts to accelerate the hydrogen transition and adoption of zero-emission, fuel cell technology, Hyzon said the government support for fuel cell-powered transportation in Europe and Australia has waned, including the disbandment in many European countries of hydrogen subsidies.
Hyzon currently intends to maintain the potential to return to the European and Australian markets as a fuel cell system supplier to Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs).
“I would like to express my utmost gratitude to our dedicated European and Australian teams who have tirelessly worked toward advancing the hydrogen transition,” said Hyzon Chief Executive Officer Parker Meeks. “This was a complex and difficult decision. Given the challenges of bringing new technology to market in an emerging industry, we believe we need to focus our efforts on the North American market and refuse industry as well as overseeing our large fleet trial programs, which commence this summer,” added Meeks.
In connection with the planned exit activities, the Company expects to incur charges of approximately $17m, of which approximately $7m is expected to be in cash.
Components of the charges include non-cash inventory write-downs of approximately $7m, employee-related costs of approximately $3m, other exit related costs of approximately $4m, and non-cash impairment charges of approximately $3m.
The company expects to incur these costs in the second and third quarters of 2024 and make the related cash payments in the third and fourth quarters of 2024. Further, the Company anticipates derecognition of certain liabilities, which may result in non-cash gains in the third and fourth quarters of 2024. The Company is presently unable to estimate these non-cash gains.
Hyzon Motors, Performance Food Group, and Chart Industries, completed Hyzon’s first commercial run with a liquid hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicle (LH2 FCEV) in August 2023. It was previously reported that Hyzon is partnered with Raven SR and Chevron New Energies to commercialize operations of a green waste-to-hydrogen production facility in Richmond, California.
