New hydrogen projects achieve record numbers globally with even greater urgency for final investment decisions to attain net zero

• Hydrogen Council releases its state of the industry report, Hydrogen Insights 2022, on the hydrogen imperative for the global energy transition
• 680 large-scale projects announced globally reflecting investments of US$ 240 billion until 2030, an increase of 50% since November 2021
• US$22 billion, or 10% of proposed investments, have reached FID, are under construction, or are already operational
• Real deployment of hydrogen is growing (e.g. 80% increase in installed electrolyzers), and must continue to scale
• Investment proposals must triple to US$700 billion until 2030 in order to achieve the global 2050 net zero target
• Both policymakers and industry need to step up to deliver on hydrogen net-zero

BRUSSELS, September 20, 2022 – The urgency to ramp up investment in industrial-scale hydrogen energy projects is greater than ever, says a new report published today by the Hydrogen Council.

Developed in collaboration with global consultancy McKinsey & Company, the report, Hydrogen Insights 2022, highlights 680 large-scale* hydrogen project proposals have been announced, totaling US$240 billion in direct investment between now and 2030 – an increase of 50% since November 2021 alone.

With this substantial uptake in hydrogen energy project announcements, the next step by industry, investors and governments is to quickly ramp up final investment decisions (FIDs) in order to jump start project construction and operations as quickly as possible.

Yoshinori Kanehana, Chairman of Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd. and Co-Chair of the Hydrogen Council, said, “With the growing concerns around energy security, it is clear our economies need hydrogen. But on-the-ground deployment is not moving fast enough and needs to accelerate to realize the benefits of hydrogen. This report proposes a series of priority actions for both policymakers and industry to overcome the challenges and accelerate large-scale hydrogen deployment.

“In addition, the report helps us understand the current state of the global hydrogen economy by highlighting what’s really happening in terms of deployment, financing and investment, as well as offering predictions for the future.”

Tom Linebarger, Executive Chairman and Chairman of the Board of Cummins Inc. and Co-Chair of the Hydrogen Council, said of the report, “Climate change is the existential crisis of our time, and it will require businesses and governments working together to address it and we must do more now. To move to a zero emissions future, we must have multiple solutions available for our customers who require vastly different applications around the world and hydrogen will play a critically important role.”

Capturing the maximum climate value of hydrogen to deliver the 2050 net zero carbon emissions target requires a tripling of investments in hydrogen projects by 2030 to US$700 billion, equivalent to an additional US$460 billion, the report explains.

The Council report goes on to note that the 2030 hydrogen investment figure is equivalent to less than 15% of investment committed to upstream oil and gas over the past decade.

To meet the planet’s commitment to positively impact climate change, the study makes clear that a rapid increase in hydrogen project investment and on-the-ground deployment is required.

Joint action by the public and private sectors is urgently needed to move from project proposals to FIDs.

Hydrogen Insights 2022 sets out mutually reinforcing priority actions both for policymakers and for industry across 2022 to 2023.