The global deployment of electrolysers for clean hydrogen projects has crossed 1-gigawatts, with 400-megawatts added in 2023 alone, says a new report from the Hydrogen Council.

The Hydrogen Insights 2023 December Update report, co-authored by McKinsey & Company, highlights that the number of announced hydrogen projects has increased by about 35% to over 1,400 from 1,050 projects in January 2023. The announced projects account for 45 million tonnes/year of clean hydrogen projects until 2030.

These projects represent over $570 billion in investments, including in clean hydrogen production, end use and infrastructure, through the end of this decade, Kallanish notes. 

“However, deployment is not moving as fast as previously expected by developers,” the report warns. While project announcements in 2021 indicated 6-GW of electrolysis would be operational by the end of 2022, only 1.1-GW has been deployed as of October 2023, representing 20% of the initial figure.

With over $190 billion of announced investments, Europe is leading the project pipeline, followed by Latin America, Oceania, and North America. However, only 7% of announced investments in clean hydrogen have passed final investment decisions (FIDs), representing around 3m t/y of hydrogen production capacity by 2030. In Europe, only 4% ($8 billion) of the projects have passed FID, while the figure is 15% in North America ($10 billion) and 35% in China ($12 billion).

Meanwhile, a further 12-GW of electrolysis projects have reached FID, with 55% of the capacity in China. It is followed by about 15% each in the Middle East and Europe and about 5% in North America.

“It’s promising to see clean hydrogen projects developing across geographies, with 12 GW of electrolyser capacity reaching FID,” says Sanjiv Lamba, co-chair of the Hydrogen Council. “However, we need to further build on this momentum if hydrogen is to fulfil its role in supporting the energy transition. This is achievable with the right regulatory frameworks in place, and through collaboration across the entire hydrogen value chain.”