United Kingdom – Global hydrogen production capacity is expected to reach 4.5 million tons per annum (mtpa) by the end of the year, representing a 165% increase over 2022, according to GlobalData, a prominent data and analytics organization.
The current book “Hydrogen Transition Outlook and Trends: Q1 2023” by GlobalData shows transaction trends and investments as important benchmarks for identifying the key firms driving hydrogen market growth.
Andres Angulo, Energy Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “During 2022, over 393 deals related to hydrogen were closed, representing a significant increase compared to 277 deals registered in 2021. This shows an upward trend in the hydrogen market development, which could be decisive in achieving over 71 mtpa capacity worldwide by 2030. However, the partnerships represented 66% of the deals last year, and the number of deals decreased after Q2 2022 to numbers even below those seen in the same quarter in 2021. This could have been due to the companies trying to strengthen their core business and diversify the investment risk given the global economic situation.”
Hydrogen economy in 2022
Despite the fact that firms developed more partnerships than government agencies, investing and obtaining finance was critical to the development of the hydrogen economy in 2022. Last year, the monetary value of merger and acquisitions (M&A) transactions reached $24.4 billion, indicating a 288% rise over 2021 levels. Venture capital deal valuations, on the other hand, increased from $595.23 million to nearly $3,001.1 million.
Over 111.9 mtpa of hydrogen capacity was announced in the United States, Denmark, Egypt, Canada, Portugal, and other nations in 2022. Green Hydrogen International (GHI) announced two significant green hydrogen projects in Canada as a lone participant, each with a capacity of 43 mtpa and scheduled to begin production in 2030. Other firms, such as Fortescue Industries, which has two-thirds of its capacity outside of Australia, participated in several project investments around the world to diversify their risk.
Producing green with electrolysis
With a total active capacity of 56.3 mtpa, companies such as GHI, Suez Canal Economic Zone, New and Renewable Energy Authority, Sovereign Fund of Egypt, and Egyptian Electricity Transmission Co are the global leaders in low carbon hydrogen capacity. Electrolysis capacity of over 1,065 GW is already in the pipeline as part of the development of low-carbon hydrogen, with electrolysis being a crucial technique to produce green. Manufacturing businesses such as Hydrogenics, Nel ASA, ThyssenKrupp, ITM Power, HydrogenPro, Enapter, and Plug Power are mostly responsible for this.
As the hydrogen economy grew last year, companies such as Globeleq Africa, Linde, John Wood Group, ThyssenKrupp, H2-Industries, Alcazar energy, and Samsung Engineering capitalized on the rising demand for hydrogen capacity to become green project Engineering, Procurement & Construction (EPC) leaders.
Increased investment
Angulo concludes: “Despite the challenging global economic conditions, the number of investments in low-carbon hydrogen increased from 600 to over 1,700 between Q4 2021 and Q4 2022. As of January 2023, 93% of both active and pipeline hydrogen projects were green, as reflected by the increasing manufacturers’ electrolysis capacity and the number of EPC contractors participating in bigger green projects. This, in addition to the renewable energy development, will create a momentum that will accelerate the cost reduction across the entire hydrogen value chain.”
