Green Hydrogen Innovations & Startups Report

Comprehensive Showcase of Global Green Hydrogen Innovations & Startups

From CLIMAFIX, leader in climate innovation intelligence

Green Hydrogen Introduction:

Hydrogen as a store of energy has been explored for a long time. Given its abundance (in the form of water), and given its potential to be a clean source of power (the only by-product of the hydrogen-oxygen reaction for power generation is pure water), hydrogen presents significant potential as a clean source of energy.

Until 2020, there were insignificant capacities of hydrogen power plants worldwide. But estimates suggest that these could be as high as 25 GW by 2025 and much higher by 2030. The global capacity of electrolyzers, which are needed to produce hydrogen from electricity, doubled over the last five years to reach just over 300 MW by mid-2021.

Around 350 projects currently under development could bring global capacity. up to 54 GW by 2030. Another 40 projects accounting for more than 35 GW of capacity are in the early stages of development. If all those projects are realised, global hydrogen supply from electrolyzers could reach more than 8 million tons by 2030. While significant, this is still well below the 80 Mt required by that timeline in the pathway to net zero CO2 emissions by 2050 set out in the IEA Roadmap for the Global Energy Sector. A net-zero world would need 306 million tonnes of green hydrogen per year by 2050, almost four times the current total hydrogen production from fossil sources.

Two key aspects in the green hydrogen value chain need significant innovation and evolution. One is the cost of electrolyzers and the other is the cost of green electricity needed for electrolysis. The cost of electrolyzers could decrease owing to economies of scale in their production and the costs of green power (solar or wind power, to a large extent) have already decreased significantly in the last decade and have potential for further reduction.

It is expected that new and cheaper materials will significantly reduce electrolyzer costs – for instance, research suggests that the overall capital cost of PEM electrolyzer equipment per kilowatt (kW), currently between $800 and $1,400, could fall to about $200/kW by 2050.

Green hydrogen production costs have fallen by 40% since 2015 and are expected to fall by a further 40% through 2025. Green hydrogen produced with renewable resources costs between about $3/kg and $6.55/kg. Fossil-based hydrogen costs about $1.80/kg. Recent analysis suggests $2/kg is a potential tipping point that will make green hydrogen and its derivative fuels competitive in multiple sectors

Hydrogen, owing to its versatility to be used as a fuel for power generation on its own, or as a feedstock for chemicals and liquid transport fuels, presents a very high potential to result in dramatic decarbonization of the global economy over the next 50-75 years.

Almost any country can benefit from the hydrogen economy, as all that is needed for green hydrogen production are water and renewable electricity.

Hydrogen is a versatile fuel with high calorific value. Liquified hydrogen could even be used to power aircraft, something that batteries find very challenging owing to their low energy densities. Hydrogen is also a feedstock with a significant potential to propel the Power2X economy.

The main challenges with green hydrogen are its high cost (currently almost three times that of fossil-generated hydrogen) and also the lack of infrastructure for logistics (storing and distribution) and end-use equipment (engines, heating equipment, and power generation equipment).

The Green Hydrogen Innovations & Startups Report provides insights on the following: