Hydrogen Projects Spike Upwards

The hydrogen economy is experiencing a powerful virtuous cycle of R&D, public and private investment and adoption. Tangible evidence of this dynamic is provided by a 2019 CAS white paper which shows that hydrogen fuel related technology accounted for 5-10%+ of annual published patents in major markets during the 2010s. Growing confidence in technological viability and a bending cost curve drive investment in production, manufacturing, storage and distribution which, in turn, spurs adoption. Rising adoption then justifies even larger R&D budgets. While meaningful technological hurdles remain, substantial allocations to the hydrogen economy from government funded Covid recovery plans around the world have even further accelerated the cycle.

In an article published in July, the Hydrogen Council and McKinsey & Co reported that they have catalogued 350+ "large scale project" announcements around the world. This represents 50% growth just since the beginning of the year. And it seems to us that the pace of new grants, projects, JVs and MOUs focused on the hydrogen economy continues to accelerate. A typical example is last week's EUR32.4 million award by a European environmental agency to help fund the design phase for the installation of a 100MW electrolyzer at a Shell refinery in Germany.