Decarbonisation Technology August 2025 Issue

15 Offtake sold out 14 Cash basis break-even achieved

13 Commercial operations (COD) with on-spec product

12 Plant start - up

11 Break ground 10 EPC contract award

9 FID achieved 8 Bankable business case developed 7 Grid connection & regulatory approvals granted

6 Binding LOIs for >60% of feedstock and otake

5 Feed complete 4 Grid connection & regulatory approvals applied for

3 LOIs for >60% of feedstock and otake

2 Pre-feed complete

1 Concept dened

Figure 5 Project maturity levels (PMLs) for sustainable infrastructure project development

announced that John Cockerill will pay €600,000 for McPhy’s 1 GW per year electrolyser manufacturing plant in Belfort, technology rights and would absorb more than 70% of McPhy’s French workforce ( Martin, 2025 ). A recent example is the investment made by Austrian EPC player Andritz into HydrogenPro in 2023. This meant Andritz could produce electrolysers based on the H2Pro technology in Europe to increase their attractiveness for EU-funded projects. In 2025, Andritz announced the completion of an electrolyser manufacturing facility in Erfurt, Germany, with an annual capacity of 1MW of stacks. Rely, the partnership between Technip Energies (T.EN) and John Cockerill is a similar case. John Cockerill can produce pressurised alkaline stacks in Belgium and China. T.EN is an established EPC contractor in the energy sector with many connections to traditional hydrogen production technologies and operators (John Cockerill, 2023) . Friendly finance Start-ups rarely buy other rival start-ups. A lack of cash, cultural distances, and the potential for power struggles are obstacles to this form of consolidation. Smaller players are more likely to be consumed by cash-rich players. Some may be leaning on helpful parent companies with diversified revenue streams and deep wallets (such as Siemens Energy and thyssenkrupp

nucera), which will have the upper hand in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) negotiations or as start-ups see that a ‘white knight’ offering a rescue package is the only way forward. A relevant example is the 2024 investment by Longi in HydrogenPro. Longi is an established solar panel producer with a credible product, strong cashflow, and profitable business model. Longi recently diversified into electrolyser production in China and has grown rapidly. In 2023, it provided 80 MW of alkaline electrolysers to Sinopec’s 260 MW Kuqa facility (Collins, 2025) . Longi’s gravitas in the renewable energy space means it can afford to invest for the long term without the need for an acquired business to demonstrate synergy overnight. Chinese electrolyser producers are also keen to set up production in Europe to shorten supply chains and ensure that their technology is produced with a sufficiently high quotient of European components for them to be eligible for European Grant funding. A notable example is the opening of Hygreen Energy’s new factory near Malaga in 2025 (Collins, 2025; Parkes, 2025) . This factory has a design capacity to build 5 GW of pressurised alkaline stacks and associated electrolyser systems per year. Spain is a leading nation in Europe for green hydrogen and is blessed with ideal wind and solar conditions to ensure affordable hydrogen production from electrolysis.