Speaking in a session on hydrogen at energy forum Enlit Europe in Paris, Jacques Moss, senior consultant in energy, sustainability and infrastructure at Guidehouse, said he had detected a “shift in the mindset” of electrolyser manufacturers.
He noted an “uptick in partnerships and joint ventures”, and that other likely outcomes would include more transparency over costs, with manufacturers ready to supply electrolysers ‘at cost’ for demonstration projects.
The rapid scale-up was confirmed by Baptiste Fera from gases company Air Liquide. He said his company, which had been supplying 1MW of electrolyser stacks per year five years ago, was now installing two or three hundred times that.
Air Liquide has partnered with Siemens Energy to address a 3GW market by 2025, developing ‘highly standardised’ components and qualifying companies that could assemble electrolyser stacks close to projects.
On incentive regimes for new electrolyser projects, Moss noted that the US and EU had taken opposite approaches.
Any project could qualify under the “simple and uncapped” US’s ten-year production tax credit. But there was a risk around ‘additionality’ questions – whether the measure would support projects that would not otherwise have gone ahead or apply at times and places when the electrolyser was not using green power.
Under the EU’s subsidy scheme, in contrast, rules on additionality issues are already in place but total subsidies are capped at €0.8 billion in 2023, with a further €2.2 billion available next year.
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