Russian metals giant Norilsk Nickel announced yesterday its plan to invest in fuel cell research, in order to find a new market for palladium, of which the company is the largest producer.

The announcement came as Norilsk signed an agreement to cooperate on research into hydrogen energy and fuel cells with the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Norilsk's chief executive, Mikhail Prokhorov, said 'this agreement is of strategic value to us, as it represents a basis which will transform our country from a leading raw materials supplier into a leading high technology power'.

He added that the company planned to spend up to $40 million annually on the project during the initial research stage.

The research, he said, also had the potential to increase palladium's value compared to that of platinum, as well as expand the metal's utility beyond the production of engine catalysts.

'Palladium has more advantages in the process of cleaning hydrogen than platinum', he said. 'So our target is to use the existing scientific achievements to popularise palladium…as the metal of the future and as a basis for hydrogen technologies,' he explained.