Decarbonisation Technology August 2025 Issue

Europe North America

Alkaline PEM SOEC AEM Other

OEM Start - up Integrator

China APAC

Stacks Demo

APAC data excludes China. In the technology split, some players feature more than once. Alkaline includes pressurised and atmospheric pressure. Notes: Numbers shown are number of players as of November 2023 .

Integrator - Purchasing stacks and building systems Stacks - Focused on stack production, not systems Demo - First commercial demonstration ach ie ved

PEM - Proton e xchange m embrane SOEC - Solid o xide e lectrolysis AEM - Anion ex change m embrane OEM - Original equipment manufacturer

Figure 3 Electrolyser producers and emerging players

In 2025, Green Hydrogen Systems (GHS) ran out of cash. Even though investors such as Maersk had supported this Danish entity for several years with equity injections, GHS was forced to close ( Collins, 2025) . French PEM electrolyser maker Elogen did not announce any new sales orders in 2024. It is now at risk of divestment or closure after its owner, gas technology company GTT, announced that it was undertaking a strategic review of its subsidiary’s activities, with ‘all possible options’ on the table to limit the financing needs of Elogen ( Collins, 2025). 2025 could also be a pivotal year for Canada’s Next Hydrogen. Its innovative pressurised alkaline stack design has been in development for 10 years, but commercial traction has not been inadequate. Despite securing CAD 5 million in working capital debt from Export Development Canada, Next Hydrogen has communicated concerns over its viability as a going concern ( Currie & Currie, 2025). Potential consolidation wave For those that do not close, there is the potential for mergers or takeovers. This is nothing new for the sector. Plug Power acquired Giner ELX for more than $60 million in 2020 (MarketScreener, 2020) . Similarly, Sunfire acquired alkaline electrolyser technology from IHT in 2021 (Sunfire, 2021) . Others may collaborate to pool resources and share development budgets, as Industrie De Nora and thyssenkrupp Industrial Solutions

electrolyser transactions will optimise the value of what has been achieved over the past 10 years and leverage aspects that are currently being commercialised. This is precisely what the sector needs. There will inevitably be rising costs of innovation as electrolyser technologies mature, because developments will need to be proven at an ever-larger scale to demonstrate long-term competitiveness and bankability. Also, the cost of growth capital in this space will increase due to higher perceived risk and a more realistic expectation of returns. Interest rates are higher now than during the hype years of green hydrogen at the turn of the decade, which will also thin out the field. Fewer, bigger electrolyser value chain players with strong backing are essential for the next phase of hydrogen electrolyser innovation. Only the premium players and the greatest ideas will prevail. Closures and upcoming difficulties There are more than 100 stack builders, electrolyser systems producers and systems integrators active globally (see Figure 3 ). More and more players are likely to fall by the wayside in the same way that AquaHydrex filed for bankruptcy and folded its alkaline electrolyser R&D efforts in October of 2023. After spending millions of dollars of investment equity, there was unfortunately no other electrolyser original equipment manufacturer (OEM) willing to buy its assets or IP.