Norway’s cleantech company TECO 2030 has been granted up to NOK 5.4 million (around $630,000) in indirect government support for developing its first production line for hydrogen fuel cells at its new fuel cell factory in Narvik.
As disclosed, the project that has been granted tax relief involves the development of a new production line for hydrogen fuel cells, with a total annual production capacity of 400 MW. The project will be completed at its new fuel cell giga factory and innovation center in Narvik, which was established a few months ago. The tax relief has been given for two years, 2021 and 2022.
“We are currently in the process of setting up a combined innovation center and factory in Narvik in northern Norway, where we will produce hydrogen fuel cells. Hydrogen fuel cells are the engines of tomorrow and convert hydrogen into electricity while emitting nothing but water vapour and warm air,” said Tore Enger , CEO of TECO 2030 ASA.
The support has been granted through the Research Council of Norway’s Skattefunn scheme, which is a tax deduction scheme designed to stimulate research and development (R&D) activities in Norwegian companies. It provides indirect support in the form of tax deductions on costs related to implemented research and development activities.
TECO 2030 is developing fuel cell technology in cooperation with the Austrian technology company AVL, which will also contribute to the planning and establishment of the combined fuel cell factory.
The TECO 2030 Marine Fuel Cell is the first fuel cell system in the world that is specifically designed for use onboard ships and on other heavy-duty applications. By exchanging one or more of their engines with this fuel cell system, ships can switch from fossil fuels to hydrogen and reduce their emissions to zero.
Recently, TECO 2030 has secured a tax relief grant for developing carbon capture solutions (CCS), which will further speed up its decarbonisation efforts.