{"id":12529,"date":"2022-12-01T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-12-01T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zbt.de\/projects\/i-skab-automation-and-scaling-of-pem-fuel-cell-production\/"},"modified":"2025-08-21T08:38:57","modified_gmt":"2025-08-21T08:38:57","slug":"i-skab","status":"publish","type":"project","link":"https:\/\/zbt.de\/en\/projects\/i-skab\/","title":{"rendered":"i-skaB \u2013 Automation and scaling of PEM fuel cell production"},"content":{"rendered":"<section class=\"text-teaser text-teaser--white\">\n  <h2 class=\"text-teaser__heading\">i-skaB \u2013 Automation and scaling of PEM fuel cell production<\/h2>\n  <div class=\"text-teaser__text\"><p>The future industrialisation and scaling of PEM fuel cell production requires fundamentally new, fully automatable and innovative manufacturing technologies that are geared to the expected sales potential in order to ensure phase-appropriate market adaptation.<\/p>\n<p>The i-skaB project forms the basis for fundamentally enabling three key technologies of the production process within the planned three-year term in cooperation with end users, suppliers and research institutions.<\/p>\n<p>The current manufacturing production lines for fuel cells and their central components, bipolar plates and MEAs, have a very low degree of automation and currently achieve a cycle time that allows for the production of only a very small number of fuel cells per day. Overall, this funding project aims to further develop the critical processes of fuel cell production to such an extent that the output can be increased from the current level of approximately 25,000 units per year in a largely manual production process to 500,000 units per year in a fully automated production process in the medium term.<\/p>\n<p>Source:<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.now-gmbh.de\/en\/projectfinder\/i-skab\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.now-gmbh.de\/en\/projectfinder\/i-skab\/<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n<section class=\"latest-project latest-project--white\">\n            <h2 class=\"latest-project__heading\">Further projects<\/h2>\n    \n            <div class=\"latest-project__grid\">\n                                                                                                <div class=\"latest-project__item\">\n                            <a href=\"https:\/\/zbt.de\/en\/projects\/elyseal-service-life-safety-seals-pem-electrolysers\/\" class=\"project-card\" title=\"ELYSeal \u2013 Service life and safety of seals in PEM electrolysers\">\n    <div class=\"project-card__header\">\n        <figure class=\"project-card__figure\">\n            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"663\" src=\"https:\/\/zbt.de\/app\/uploads\/2026\/10\/DSC_7164-1024x663.jpg\" class=\"project-card__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/zbt.de\/app\/uploads\/2026\/10\/DSC_7164-1024x663.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/zbt.de\/app\/uploads\/2026\/10\/DSC_7164-300x194.jpg 300w, https:\/\/zbt.de\/app\/uploads\/2026\/10\/DSC_7164-768x497.jpg 768w, https:\/\/zbt.de\/app\/uploads\/2026\/10\/DSC_7164-1536x995.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/zbt.de\/app\/uploads\/2026\/10\/DSC_7164-2048x1326.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/zbt.de\/app\/uploads\/2026\/10\/DSC_7164-1320x855.jpg 1320w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/>\n        <\/figure>\n    <\/div>\n    <div class=\"project-card__body\">\n        <time class=\"project-card__published\" datetime=\"2026-10-20T09:29:20+00:00\">\n            20. October, 2026\n        <\/time>\n        <h4 class=\"project-card__title\">ELYSeal \u2013 Service life and safety of seals in PEM electrolysers<\/h4>\n        <p class=\"project-card__text\"><\/p>\n    <\/div>\n    <div class=\"project-card__footer\">\n        <div class=\"project-card__action\">\n            <span class=\"project-card__more\">Read more<\/span>\n            <i class=\"project-card__arrow\"><svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" fill=\"currentColor\" viewBox=\"0 0 448 512\"><path d=\"M435.3 267.3L446.6 256l-11.3-11.3-168-168L256 65.4 233.4 88l11.3 11.3L385.4 240 16 240 0 240l0 32 16 0 369.4 0L244.7 412.7 233.4 424 256 446.6l11.3-11.3 168-168z\"\/><\/svg><\/i>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n<\/a>                        <\/div>\n                                                                                                        <div class=\"latest-project__item\">\n                            <a href=\"https:\/\/zbt.de\/en\/projects\/past-el\/\" class=\"project-card\" title=\"pAST-EL - Predictive AST Protocols for Alkaline Electrolysis\">\n    <div class=\"project-card__header\">\n        <figure class=\"project-card__figure\">\n            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"644\" src=\"https:\/\/zbt.de\/app\/uploads\/2026\/08\/DSC_7095-1024x644.jpg\" class=\"project-card__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/zbt.de\/app\/uploads\/2026\/08\/DSC_7095-1024x644.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/zbt.de\/app\/uploads\/2026\/08\/DSC_7095-300x189.jpg 300w, https:\/\/zbt.de\/app\/uploads\/2026\/08\/DSC_7095-768x483.jpg 768w, https:\/\/zbt.de\/app\/uploads\/2026\/08\/DSC_7095-1536x966.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/zbt.de\/app\/uploads\/2026\/08\/DSC_7095-2048x1287.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/zbt.de\/app\/uploads\/2026\/08\/DSC_7095-1320x830.jpg 1320w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/>\n        <\/figure>\n    <\/div>\n    <div class=\"project-card__body\">\n        <time class=\"project-card__published\" datetime=\"2026-08-17T15:41:27+00:00\">\n            17. August, 2026\n        <\/time>\n        <h4 class=\"project-card__title\">pAST-EL &#8211; Predictive AST Protocols for Alkaline Electrolysis<\/h4>\n        <p class=\"project-card__text\">As part of the pAST-EL project, ZBT and DLR are developing predictive stress tests and machine learning models to detect degradation more quickly, predict service life more reliably, and optimise operating strategies for electrolysers.<\/p>\n    <\/div>\n    <div class=\"project-card__footer\">\n        <div class=\"project-card__action\">\n            <span class=\"project-card__more\">Read more<\/span>\n            <i class=\"project-card__arrow\"><svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" fill=\"currentColor\" viewBox=\"0 0 448 512\"><path d=\"M435.3 267.3L446.6 256l-11.3-11.3-168-168L256 65.4 233.4 88l11.3 11.3L385.4 240 16 240 0 240l0 32 16 0 369.4 0L244.7 412.7 233.4 424 256 446.6l11.3-11.3 168-168z\"\/><\/svg><\/i>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n<\/a>                        <\/div>\n                                                                                                        <div class=\"latest-project__item\">\n                            <a href=\"https:\/\/zbt.de\/en\/projects\/greljet\/\" class=\"project-card\" title=\"grELjet - Graded Catalyst Layers for PEM Electrolyzers\">\n    <div class=\"project-card__header\">\n        <figure class=\"project-card__figure\">\n            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"674\" src=\"https:\/\/zbt.de\/app\/uploads\/2026\/07\/membran-mea-xrm-1024x674.jpg\" class=\"project-card__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"R\u00f6ntgenmikroskopaufnahmer einer Membran-Elektroden-Einheit (MEA)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/zbt.de\/app\/uploads\/2026\/07\/membran-mea-xrm-1024x674.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/zbt.de\/app\/uploads\/2026\/07\/membran-mea-xrm-300x197.jpg 300w, https:\/\/zbt.de\/app\/uploads\/2026\/07\/membran-mea-xrm-768x505.jpg 768w, https:\/\/zbt.de\/app\/uploads\/2026\/07\/membran-mea-xrm.jpg 1152w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/>\n        <\/figure>\n    <\/div>\n    <div class=\"project-card__body\">\n        <time class=\"project-card__published\" datetime=\"2026-08-03T15:35:00+00:00\">\n            3. August, 2026\n        <\/time>\n        <h4 class=\"project-card__title\">grELjet &#8211; Graded Catalyst Layers for PEM Electrolyzers<\/h4>\n        <p class=\"project-card__text\">As part of the grELjet project, ZBT is collaborating with Fraunhofer ENAS to develop spatially resolved, optimised catalyst layers designed to reduce the iridium requirements of PEM electrolysers and increase their efficiency.<\/p>\n    <\/div>\n    <div class=\"project-card__footer\">\n        <div class=\"project-card__action\">\n            <span class=\"project-card__more\">Read more<\/span>\n            <i class=\"project-card__arrow\"><svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" fill=\"currentColor\" viewBox=\"0 0 448 512\"><path d=\"M435.3 267.3L446.6 256l-11.3-11.3-168-168L256 65.4 233.4 88l11.3 11.3L385.4 240 16 240 0 240l0 32 16 0 369.4 0L244.7 412.7 233.4 424 256 446.6l11.3-11.3 168-168z\"\/><\/svg><\/i>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n<\/a>                        <\/div>\n                                                                        <\/div>\n    <\/section>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The i-skaB project aims to enable the manufacture of fuel cell stacks and membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs) for fully automated high-volume production. The development of innovative manufacturing technologies is expected to significantly increase production capacity in order to meet the growing demand for PEM fuel cells. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":4141,"parent":0,"template":"","class_list":["post-12529","project","type-project","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":{"date":"20221201"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>i-skaB \u2013 Automation and scaling of PEM fuel cell production - Zentrum f\u00fcr BrennstoffzellenTechnik GmbH<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/zbt.de\/en\/projects\/i-skab\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"i-skaB \u2013 Automation and scaling of PEM fuel cell production - Zentrum f\u00fcr BrennstoffzellenTechnik GmbH\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The i-skaB project aims to enable the manufacture of fuel cell stacks and membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs) for fully automated high-volume production. The development of innovative manufacturing technologies is expected to significantly increase production capacity in order to meet the growing demand for PEM fuel cells.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/zbt.de\/en\/projects\/i-skab\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Zentrum f\u00fcr BrennstoffzellenTechnik GmbH\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-08-21T08:38:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/zbt.de\/app\/uploads\/2024\/10\/DSC_1471b_NVT-scaled-e1729608556897.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1709\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/zbt.de\/en\/projects\/i-skab\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/zbt.de\/en\/projects\/i-skab\/\",\"name\":\"i-skaB \u2013 Automation and scaling of PEM fuel cell production - Zentrum f\u00fcr BrennstoffzellenTechnik GmbH\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/zbt.de\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/zbt.de\/en\/projects\/i-skab\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/zbt.de\/en\/projects\/i-skab\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/zbt.de\/app\/uploads\/2024\/10\/DSC_1471b_NVT-scaled-e1729608556897.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-12-01T10:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-08-21T08:38:57+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/zbt.de\/en\/projects\/i-skab\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/zbt.de\/en\/projects\/i-skab\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/zbt.de\/en\/projects\/i-skab\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/zbt.de\/app\/uploads\/2024\/10\/DSC_1471b_NVT-scaled-e1729608556897.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/zbt.de\/app\/uploads\/2024\/10\/DSC_1471b_NVT-scaled-e1729608556897.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1709,\"caption\":\"a high-temperature polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/zbt.de\/en\/projects\/i-skab\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/zbt.de\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"i-skaB \u2013 Automation and scaling of PEM fuel cell production\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/zbt.de\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/zbt.de\/\",\"name\":\"Zentrum f\u00fcr BrennstoffzellenTechnik GmbH\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/zbt.de\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"i-skaB \u2013 Automation and scaling of PEM fuel cell production - Zentrum f\u00fcr BrennstoffzellenTechnik GmbH","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/zbt.de\/en\/projects\/i-skab\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"i-skaB \u2013 Automation and scaling of PEM fuel cell production - Zentrum f\u00fcr BrennstoffzellenTechnik GmbH","og_description":"The i-skaB project aims to enable the manufacture of fuel cell stacks and membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs) for fully automated high-volume production. The development of innovative manufacturing technologies is expected to significantly increase production capacity in order to meet the growing demand for PEM fuel cells.","og_url":"https:\/\/zbt.de\/en\/projects\/i-skab\/","og_site_name":"Zentrum f\u00fcr BrennstoffzellenTechnik GmbH","article_modified_time":"2025-08-21T08:38:57+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1709,"url":"https:\/\/zbt.de\/app\/uploads\/2024\/10\/DSC_1471b_NVT-scaled-e1729608556897.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/zbt.de\/en\/projects\/i-skab\/","url":"https:\/\/zbt.de\/en\/projects\/i-skab\/","name":"i-skaB \u2013 Automation and scaling of PEM fuel cell production - Zentrum f\u00fcr BrennstoffzellenTechnik GmbH","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/zbt.de\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/zbt.de\/en\/projects\/i-skab\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/zbt.de\/en\/projects\/i-skab\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/zbt.de\/app\/uploads\/2024\/10\/DSC_1471b_NVT-scaled-e1729608556897.jpg","datePublished":"2022-12-01T10:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2025-08-21T08:38:57+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/zbt.de\/en\/projects\/i-skab\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/zbt.de\/en\/projects\/i-skab\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/zbt.de\/en\/projects\/i-skab\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/zbt.de\/app\/uploads\/2024\/10\/DSC_1471b_NVT-scaled-e1729608556897.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/zbt.de\/app\/uploads\/2024\/10\/DSC_1471b_NVT-scaled-e1729608556897.jpg","width":2560,"height":1709,"caption":"a high-temperature polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/zbt.de\/en\/projects\/i-skab\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/zbt.de\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"i-skaB \u2013 Automation and scaling of PEM fuel cell production"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/zbt.de\/#website","url":"https:\/\/zbt.de\/","name":"Zentrum f\u00fcr BrennstoffzellenTechnik GmbH","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/zbt.de\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zbt.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/projects\/12529","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zbt.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/projects"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zbt.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/project"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/zbt.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/projects\/12529\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12537,"href":"https:\/\/zbt.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/projects\/12529\/revisions\/12537"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zbt.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4141"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zbt.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12529"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}