Announcements

• Armin Diez, formerly one of the three General Managers at EKPO Fuel Cell Technologies, left the company at his own request and for personal reasons as of December 31, 2021
• Stefan Schmid, Chairman of the Management Board at ElringKlinger Kunststofftechnik GmbH, was appointed as his successor effective from February 1, 2022
• Following the appointment of Stefan Schmid, the EKPO board of management that includes the two other general managers Dr. Gernot Stellberger and Julien Etienne is once again complete

Dettingen/Erms (Germany), February 21, 2022 +++ After more than 30 years with the ElringKlinger Group and on the board of management of EKPO Fuel Cell Technologies GmbH (EKPO), Armin Diez left the company at his own request and for personal reasons as of December 31, 2021. Having joined the ElringKlinger Group in 1990, he managed the Research and Development department of the Cylinder-head Gaskets division from 1999 onward. In 2005, he was appointed head of this division, while also assuming responsibility for Battery Technology as from 2011. In 2016, he was also entrusted with the management of the Fuel Cell Technology division, while relinquishing responsibility for the Cylinder-head Gaskets division. Upon the inception of EKPO in March 2021, he became one of three general managers of this entity.

Dr. Stefan Wolf, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of EKPO, said: "I would like to express my tremendous gratitude and appreciation to Armin Diez for his many years of commitment and his exceptional accomplishments. He brought his extensive knowledge and experience to bear in spearheading ElringKlinger's fundamental advances in battery technology and its fuel cell business. Most recently, he played a pivotal role during the founding stages of EKPO Fuel Cell Technologies in his capacity as General Manager. At the same time, I am delighted that we have found an experienced successor in Stefan Schmid, who leads ElringKlinger Kunststofftechnik in a highly accomplished manner as Chairman of the Management Board. With Stefan Schmid succeeding Armin Diez, EKPO continues to be very well positioned as it pursues its ambitions of further industrialization and the sustained cultivation of the global fuel cell market."

Stefan Schmid, born in 1965, can draw on many years of management experience and has been with the ElringKlinger Group since 2003. Having initially overseen production in what is now the Lightweighting/Elastomer Technology business unit, the qualified chemical engineer took over as Chairman of the Management Board of ElringKlinger Kunststofftechnik GmbH in 2012, where he is responsible for Production, IT, and Human Resources. During this time, the Stuttgart-born manager succeeded in expanding the Group's high-growth plastics business at a global level and implemented industrial-scale production both domestically and internationally.

The area of responsibility of Stefan Schmid, who took up his new post at EKPO on February 1, 2022, includes Production and IT as well as Quality and Sustainability Management. He thus joins the executive management team consisting of Dr. Gernot Stellberger, who is responsible for Strategy, Finance, Purchasing, Human Resources, and Advanced Development, and Julien Etienne, who oversees Sales, Marketing, Programs, and Product Engineering.

• Another order from Aerostack GmbH, the joint venture of Airbus and ElringKlinger, to further develop fuel cell technology
• Contract covers development services as well as delivery of stack components and prototypes
• With its benchmark performance characteristics, EKPO's NM12 stack technology serves as the baseline platform for the development of bespoke aerospace products

Dettingen/Erms (Germany), February 3, 2022 +++ EKPO Fuel Cell Technologies GmbH (EKPO) has received another large order from Aerostack GmbH, the joint venture of Airbus and ElringKlinger. As a follow-up order to the successful cooperation to date, this contract confirms EKPO as a significant development partner. Over the next two years, EKPO will provide development services and deliver fuel cell stacks optimized for aerospace applications. The stacks, based on the NM12 platform, will be integrated into the customer's further development, aiming to use fuel cell power for the commercial aerospace sector.

Julien Etienne, Chief Commercial Officer of EKPO, comments: "This order and the entire partnership with Aerostack demonstrate not only the wide range of applications of fuel cells, but also the technological leadership of EKPO. As the logical next step in our cooperation with Aerostack, we will provide stack components, prototypes and industrial development services to optimize the performance of Aerostack's first stack generation. Through this project, EKPO will further expand its unique know-how in key components, such as the bipolar plates and sealing technology. In return, this innovation will flow into our next generation of stacks, allowing us to bring even more attractive and performant products to market in the future."

The NM12 stack family is the most powerful of EKPO's portfolio with an output of up to 205 kWel and benchmark power density of above 6.0 kW/l. The scalable and modular stack design offers the best possible basis to suit a wide range of applications with maximum flexibility and efficiency. This platform was the ideal starting point to address the unique performance expectations of aviation.

Through its parent company ElringKlinger, EKPO has been actively pursuing fuel cell research and development for around 20 years. The compact stacks are based on proton-exchange membrane (PEM) technology and convert chemical into electrical energy using hydrogen and oxygen. EKPO offers stacks in various configurations for integration into customer systems. Stacks with peripheral components and system functionalities integrated into the media module are also available as an option. These features enable considerable simplification and cost reduction with regard to the fuel cell system. Drawing on the system solutions of its parent company Plastic Omnium, EKPO can cover the entire value chain of a hydrogen-based fuel cell drive. EKPO has an initial production capacity of up to 10,000 stacks per year already installed in its Dettingen/Erms plant, and which will be gradually expanded in line with its order intake.