Canton Rep.com - LG buys Rolls Royce Fuel Cell Unit

News Article

By Unknown

South Korea-based LG Electronics has acquired 51 percent of Rolls Royce Fuel Cell Systems.

The $45 million investment includes the company's headquarters and laboratory on the campus of Stark State College.

The company will now be known as LG Fuel Cell Systems. LG will continue the research, development, testing, and commercialization of solid oxide fuel cell technology aimed at large scale power generation for industrial, commercial, and utility markets, according to a statement from the two companies.

LG will have access to Rolls-Royce technical expertise and will continue to engage with the U.S. Department of Energy's Solid State Energy Conversion Alliance program.

U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Avon, lauded the news.

"Fuel cell technology is one way that we can help reduce our unsustainable and dangerous reliance on foreign oil," he said in a statement, adding that the investment will help ensure the country doesn't replace dependence on foreign oil with a dependence on foreign-made clean energy technology.

"By developing and commercializing fuel cells in Ohio, we can continue to position our state as the Silicon Valley for clean energy manufacturing," the statement said.

LG Electronics USA, based in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., is the North American subsidiary of LG Electronics. That company, headquartered in Seoul, South Korea, is a $49 billion global manufacturer of consumer electronics, home appliances and mobile communications.

In the United States, LG sells a range of home entertainment products, mobile phones, home appliances, commercial displays, air conditioning systems and solar energy solutions, according to the company's web site.

Rolls-Royce Fuel Cell Systems made Stark State its headquarters for fuel cell research after buying SOFCo, a solid-oxide fuel-cell operation, developed in Alliance at Babcock & Wilcox Co.

Source