Decarbonisation Technology August 2025 Issue

Sector consolidation: good news for green hydrogen Trimming back to revitalise a more sustainable growth phase has been a prevailing theme in the green hydrogen sector in 2025

Stephen B Harrison sbh4 Consulting

Introduction Consolidation within the hydrogen electrolyser value chain will accelerate this decade. At present, weak players are being propped up by government subsidies and false hope. Poor ideas with only marginal potential are being hyped up as revolutionary. Consolidation will mean survival of the fittest. Those with the best technology, the best commercialisation strategy, and the strongest partnerships will make it. Others will either fall by the wayside or be integrated into the winners.

There will be winners and losers along the way. However, the electrolyser industry will enter the 2030s in much better shape than it is now. The dream of green hydrogen at a cost of less than €3 per tonne may still be achieved if the sector focuses on the essentials and avoids unnecessary distractions (see Figure 1 ). Cutting back The deployment gap of electrolysers for green hydrogen production is enormously wide. Many project announcements from several

Hydrogen FCEV/FCEB

Hydrogen ad-mixing into natural gas pipeline

Synthetic fuels via Fischer - Tropsch

Fuel cell

Wind

Desulphurisation of fossil fuels

Hydro power

Gas turbine

Upgrading biofuels

Hydrogen storage/ distribution

Electricity grid

LH2

Battery

Biomass

Methanol

Gasication

Invertor

Rectier

Ammonia

Other end use

Metals rening

Hydrogen electrolyser

Solar PV

Figure 1 Renewable hydrogen production, distribution, storage, and utilisation value chains