H2 Production

The World Economic Forum (WEF) has recognised the US company Power to Hydrogen (P2H2) as a Technology Pioneer 2026. The company from Columbus, Ohio, develops electrolysers based on Anion Exchange Membranes (AEM) and is the only hydrogen company in this year's selection.

The EU project ECO2Fuel has reported progress in low-temperature CO2 electrolysis. In tests, a membrane electrode assembly converted 69 to 70 percent of electrons into carbon products and operated stably for more than 800 hours.

France has granted Mantle8 an exclusive exploration license for natural hydrogen and helium in the Pyrenees. With the Hydrogeco project, the company is entering the next phase – however, extraction has not yet been approved.

Sunfire is setting up a test facility for its high-temperature electrolysis at the Lausitz Industrial Park in Schwarzheide. The Dresden-based electrolyzer manufacturer aims to gain practical experience for the industrial application of SOEC technology. Commissioning is planned for the end of 2026.

US company Power to Hydrogen (P2H2) is supplying a 0.5 MW electrolyzer to the Norwegian research institute SINTEF. The system is designed to produce green hydrogen for the manufacture of emissions-free acetone from CO2. It is part of the EU project PYROCO2.

The Stadtwerke Stuttgart have begun constructing a hydrogen pipeline approximately four kilometres long along the Neckar. It is intended to transport green hydrogen from the planned Green Hydrogen Hub in the Stuttgart harbour to consumers in three city districts.

The French exploration company Mantle8 has raised 31 million euros in a Series A funding round. The company intends to use the capital to finance a global drilling campaign for the development of natural hydrogen.

Thyssenkrupp Nucera nearly quadrupled its order intake in the second quarter of the 2025/2026 fiscal year. The drivers were a 300 MW order from the Spanish company Moeve and a record order in the chlor-alkali business. However, revenue and earnings fell due to special effects.

The market for renewable and low-carbon H2 is expected to grow a hundredfold by 2060. This is predicted by the Norwegian certification company DNV in its new "Energy Transition Outlook Hydrogen to 2060." China is expected to account for 35 percent of the new production and use. Compared to 2022, DNV has reduced its forecast by 35 percent.

The Bundesrat, the Federal Council of Germany, has paved the way for the implementation of the EU Renewable Energy Directive RED III into German law. Refineries will be required to use renewable hydrogen according to RFNBO criteria. Hydrogen producer Lhyfe expects additional demand in the German market as a result.

The French hydrogen producer Lhyfe will supply the BMW site in Steyr, Austria, with green hydrogen in the future. There, the BMW Group develops its fuel cell systems for series production. The contract runs for several years.

Horizon Fuel Cell Technologies claims to have delivered the world's first electrolysis system based on an anion exchange membrane (AEM) at a 5 MW scale. It is intended to produce green hydrogen for steel production at Rockcheck Steel in Tianjin, China.

Natural hydrogen from geological sources raises hopes as an affordable energy source. However, a current position paper by the ESYS initiative shows significant research needs. According to experts, the energy carrier is not suitable as a gamechanger.

Sunfire, an electrolyzer manufacturer based in Dresden, Germany, has unveiled a new 50 MW pressurized alkaline electrolysis module. According to the company, the outdoor-capable Hylink Alkaline 23 system is designed to reduce the total installed costs of large-scale hydrogen projects by up to 50 percent.

Thyssenkrupp Nucera is to supply 15 alkaline electrolysers with a combined capacity of 300 MW for the Onuba project in Huelva, southern Spain. According to Moeve, it will be the largest green hydrogen facility in southern Europe.

Asahi Kasei has begun installing an alkaline water electrolyser of the Aqualyzer-C3 type with a capacity of 1 MW in Jyväskylä. Finland's first commercial hydrogen refuelling station is being built there. Operations are scheduled to start in summer 2026.

MorGen Energy, a subsidiary of the commodity group Trafigura, has made the final investment decision for a 20 MW green hydrogen production plant in Milford Haven, Wales. The plant is expected to produce around 2,000 tonnes of hydrogen per year from 2028.

The Swiss cantons of Basel-Stadt and Basel-Landschaft have presented a joint strategy for green hydrogen. In it, they define areas of application, call for technology-neutral incentives, and position the region as a hub in the European hydrogen network.

A European consortium led by the Spanish research center Cener aims to further develop solid oxide electrolysis. In the Desiree project, a 40 kW prototype is to be created by 2029, achieving an efficiency of over 85 percent and providing hydrogen without additional electrical compression.

The French geoscience company Mantle8 has entered into a strategic partnership with the seismic service provider S³. This secures Mantle8 access to its own fleet of seismic sensors to explore natural hydrogen deposits worldwide more quickly.

The Berlin-based company Graforce has completed a strategic financing round in the double-digit million range. An international consortium of investors is financing the industrial scaling of methane plasma pyrolysis, which is expected to produce hydrogen at costs of 2 to 3 euros per kilogram.

A consortium of companies from Austria, France, and Germany has applied for funding from the EU Hydrogen Bank with the Alpine Hydrogen project. In Tyrol, green hydrogen is to be produced for the regional industry using alkaline electrolysis and novel electrodes.

Fraunhofer ISE has developed a process that significantly reduces the cost of producing dimethyl ether, or DME. This energy carrier could play an important role in future hydrogen imports. A pilot plant is now planned in Chile.

The hydrogen ramp-up in Germany is not failing due to a lack of interest from companies. On the contrary, regulatory, economic, and infrastructural risks, also at the EU level, are hindering investments along the value chain. This is shown by a study from BDEW and Capgemini.

Chantiers de l'Atlantique has completed two offshore substations for the North Sea Cluster A. The platforms are scheduled to be transported to the construction site in the German North Sea by the end of February. The project by RWE and Norges Bank Investment Management is expected to go online in 2027.