If, as H2 View magazine reports https://www.h2-view.com/story/doubling-manufacturing-capability-to-meet-growing-storage-demands/, the global demand for hydrogen pressure vessels (for storage and transportation) continues to grow at its current rate, there will soon be a global shortage of storage and transportation vessels.
Certainly this will be true if the hydrogen refuelling stations currently planned come to fruition.
So leaders in the hydrogen sector – especially those who manufacture hydrogen pressure vessels – have to make good on their commitment to investing in infrastructure to be able to deliver on global hydrogen aspirations. Which is where FIBA steps up.
Storage and transportation hydrogen pressure vessel manufacturers are a vital part of the worldwide hydrogen infrastructure. But at the moment there is not enough capacity to meet current and future demand, so pressure vessel manufacturers must invest now and invest heavily.
Here at FIBA there is a commitment to increase capacity via a two-pronged approach. Firstly, FIBA is investing in design to continue to develop higher capacity storage and transportation vessels while retaining the highest of safety standards. That is, making the vessels themselves more efficient through greater capacity.
See here for brochures: https://www.fibatech.com/technical/brochures/
This commitment is not new for FIBA: investment in design has been the backbone of the company’s success for many years and its market-leading position is built on its technical capabilities and design innovation. After all, FIBA was the first vessel manufacturer in the world to design and develop a 15,000 psi ASME storage vessel for hydrogen.
Secondly, capital investment in leading edge production equipment is a must. Such is the growing demand for hydrogen vessels – fuelled by huge government targets, major energy sector investments and wider technological developments – that only the most modern manufacturing techniques will enable the industry to keep pace with global ambitions.
FIBA recognises and welcomes this challenge and is responding with investment. While there is a rolling capital investment programme across all FIBA sites, the coming year will see an acceleration of that commitment, signalled by the arrival of FIBA’s third spin forging machine. The spin forger is the key piece of manufacturing equipment required to produce a high volume of pressure vessels efficiently and economically.
FIBA’s third spin forger is central to the company’s strategy of doubling its manufacturing capacity and is designed specifically to handle hydrogen vessels.The company’s Littleton, Massachusetts plant already benefits from two spin forging machines. The third will be delivered in 2023, to FIBA’s planned European facility.