Posted on 03 Jun 2021
The International Energy Agency said Wednesday that hydrogen is “unique” among fuels because its prospects are stronger in mid-2021 than before the pandemic, Kallanish reports.
According to the IEA’s World Energy Investment 2021 report, stimulus spending is giving low-carbon hydrogen a major boost, despite setbacks in some projects and near-term uncertainty about its market growth.
Spending in project planning, project completion, equipment manufacturing and equity purchases were all at record levels in 2020, the Paris-based agency says. The electrolysers coming online in 2020 alone accounted for nearly $70 million in investments, it adds.
“Although current production and consumption are modest, expectations for the near-term expansion of low-carbon hydrogen are higher than ever,” states the report.
The estimate for 2021 is for nearly 300 megawatts of electrolyser capacity to be commissioned globally, from around 65 MW last year. The IEA forecasts that around 50% of this capacity will be used by the transport sector, while much of the focus in Europe has also turned to industrial applications, including the steel and refining sectors.
“Several hundred megawatts of electrolysers are currently under construction or seek financial close for an announced commissioning before the end of 2021. Although delays can be expected for some projects, orders have recently been placed for delivery of some large electrolysers in 2021 and 2020,” the report says.
These include a 20-MW plant for fertiliser production in Spain, a 24-MW plant for chemicals manufacture in Germany and a 20-MW plan for a refinery in Denmark.
Yet, the momentum isn’t limited to water electrolysers, but it’s also spreading towards electrolyser manufacturing and equity investment in electrolyser technology companies. For alkaline electrolysers, for instance, the IEA says European manufacturers announced plans to expand existing plant capacity from 2 gigawatt to around 8 GW/year.
Proton exchange membrane (PEM) production capacity is expected to more than double in Europe to over 1 GW/y by 2023, while anion exchange membrane and solid oxide electrolyser production have prospects to reach more than 1 GW/y combined capacity, the IEA says.
Source:Kallanish
