Cummins to invest $1bn to advance natural gas engine
US engine manufacturer Cummins said April 3 it would invest more than $1bn across its US engine manufacturing network in New York, Indiana and North Carolina to support the manufacture of Cummins’ new fuel-agnostic X15 engine platform capable of running on low-carbon fuels, including natural gas and, eventually, hydrogen.
The investment, alongside recent investments by Cummins in its electrolyser manufacturing centre in Minnesota, was keyed by last year’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the US Inflation Reduction Act.
“The historic investments included in those pieces of legislation played a key role in our decision to manufacture products here in the US, creating more clean-tech jobs and positively impacting our communities,” Cummins CEO Jennifer Rumsey said. “The electrolyser production in Minnesota and investment in our Indiana, North Carolina and New York facilities are reflective of our dual path approach of advancing both engine-based and zero-emission solutions – an approach that is best for all of our stakeholders and our impact on the planet.”
Cummins will invest about $452mn in its Jamestown Engine Plant (JEP) in western New York, a 998,000 ft2 facility that will produce the industry’s first fuel-agnostic internal combustion engine, including the natural gas powered X15N.
Cummins customers, including Walmart, Werner, Matheson, and National Ready Mix, are beginning to test the very first engines of the platform, the X15N. Walmart will receive the first field test X15N unit later in April.
The X15N platform was initially rolled out by Cummins in China two years ago. The version of the engine that will be manufactured at JEP will incorporate design changes developed from the Chinese version of the engine.