Wiebrand Kout founded Elestor in 2014 to fill the need for large scale, ultra low cost electricity storage. In his career, Wiebrand has pioneered three hydrogen electrochemical systems: the PEM fuel cell, the electrochemical hydrogen compressor and the Elestor HBr flow battery. Prior to founding Elestor, he served as COO and lead designer at HyET, where he co-developed the first electrochemical hydrogen compressor capable of reaching 1,000 Bar in 2013. Today these noiseless hydrogen compressors are considered for use in hydrogen refueling stations by Shell Hydrogen.
Wiebrand started his career in 1999 at NedStack Fuel Cell Technology, where he headed the mechanical design of Europe’s first series produced PEM fuel cell stack. This fuel cell, which is still in production today, is used in several Megawatt scale power plants around the world.
At Elestor, Wiebrand is responsible for the development of the company’s core technology, intellectual property, cost modelling and product planning.