(Oslo/Norway) – Nel ASA has set itself new goals: The Norwegian manufacturer of electrolysers wants to produce green hydrogen at a price of 2025 dollars (1,50 euros) per kilogram by 1,23. “Green hydrogen will overtake fossil alternatives,” says Jon André Løkke, CEO of Nel. At this price one could “achieve parity with fossil fuels,” he announced at the company’s “Capital Markets Day 2021”.
Growth through switching from diesel trucks to hydrogen
Nel assumes a hydrogen market with a demand of 70 million tons. According to the Hydrogen Council, this could grow eightfold by 2050, primarily based on hydrogen produced using renewable energy.
The growth is not based solely on industrial applications. Converting today's diesel-based heavy-duty transport to emission-free and cost-efficient green hydrogen requires “cost-effective electrolysis and ultra-fast refueling,” explains Løkke. The hydrogen market is already large, but since only a fraction is served by electrolysis, there is significant opportunity to make the existing market green. “In addition, we are seeing a regulatory landslide around the world, with the EU and US pledging hundreds of billions of dollars in investments in their zero emissions programs, in which hydrogen as an energy carrier plays an important role.”
Electrolysis capacity on a gigawatt scale
Nel is expanding electrolysis production for large-scale projects by building a fully automated production facility on the Norwegian Herøya peninsula. Testing of the first 500 megawatt line will begin in the second quarter of 2021 and the commercial ramp-up will begin in the third quarter. The annual production capacity can be expanded to two gigawatts.
A key to reducing the costs of hydrogen is scaling: the production capacity of two gigawatts would “mean a potential of four to five million tons of CO2 reduction for our customers, which is ten percent of annual CO2 emissions in Norway.”
Outperform diesel
Nel has delivered more than 110 hydrogen refueling stations (HRS) in 13 different countries and expects the global HRS market to grow by 2030 percent annually to 30 stations by 11.000. There are also solutions for refueling fleets, trains or ferries.
“The only way to transform heavy-duty transport is to beat diesel at the pump,” says Jon André Løkke. “We need to enable rapid refueling of hydrogen in a reliable and cost-effective manner.” Nel’s technology roadmap envisages refueling a heavy-duty truck in 10 to 15 minutes – with a range of 1.000 kilometers.
The company plans to hire more than 2021 new employees in 100 and invest over 25 percent of the capital raised in 2020 in facilities, equipment and technology projects.
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“Green hydrogen will overtake fossil alternatives” / © Nel ASA
Thank you for the article! I've also been investing in renewable or environmentally friendly energies and technologies for some time, so I like reading things like that. I find it very interesting that there are plans to make heavy goods transport greener in the long term. It is truly incredible how many innovations can now be expected to close these gaps in the hydrogen market.