Nel ASA To Produce Green Hydrogen for 1.5 USD per kg

Oslo, Norway - Norwegian hydrogen specialist Nel ASA has presented ambitious targets at the Nel Capital Markets Day 2021.

With a combination of large-scale electrolyser plants in the multi-MW range and the establishment of series production for electrolyzers, Norwegian hydrogen specialist Nel ASA aims to drastically reduce the cost of green hydrogen. By 2025, the production of green hydrogen should be competitive with the fossil alternative in selected markets. Nel ASA, which is listed in the global RENIXX share index, is currently (Jan. 22, 2021) trading at around 3.20 euros.

Cost reduction: multi-GW electrolysers and series production

At the Capital Markets Day 2021 (CMD), Nel ASA outlined its strategy and ambitions until 2025, starting from the current global hydrogen market of 70 million tons per year. According to the Hydrogen Council, this market is expected to grow 8-fold by 2050, primarily based on green hydrogen. "Green renewable hydrogen is set to outcompete fossil alternatives, and Nel is placed in the centre of this transition. We’re today launching our target which should enable our customers in certain markets to produce green renewable hydrogen from a large-scale Nel facility at 1.5 USD/kg* from low cost renewable power, already within 2025. Achieving this would allow green hydrogen to start to reach fossil parity, representing one of the most significant achievement for zero-emission solutions and a carbon neutral planet,” says Jon André Løkke, Chief Executive Officer of Nel.

Nel expands electrolyser production - test production to start in second quarter 2021

Nel is expanding its production of electrolyzers for large-scale projects by building a fully automated production facility on the Herøya Peninsula, Norway. Test production of the first 500 MW production line will start in the second quarter of 2021, with commercial ramp-up scheduled to start in the third quarter of 2021. Based on the Herøya production facility, there is a possibility that Nel can expand the production capacity of this plant to more than 2 GW annually, the company said. "A 2 GW production capacity of electrolysers would represent a potential of four-to-five million tons of CO₂ reductions for our customers, or ten percent of the annual CO₂ emissions in Norway", Jon André Løkke said.

Key to transformation: low hydrogen price and ultra-fast refueling

Nel says it has already delivered more than 110 hydrogen refueling stations in 13 different countries. According to the Norwegian, the global HRS market is expected to grow 30 percent annually towards 2030, with 11,000 refueling stations installed, in addition to solutions for refueling private trailer parks, trains or ferries. Accordingly, to transform heavy-duty transportation, rapid refueling of hydrogen must be enabled in a reliable and cost-effective manner.

Says Løkke, "Nel has a technology roadmap enabling fueling in 10-15 minutes of a heavy duty truck to achieve a range of 1,000 km". Nel reiterates confidence in the long-term potential of the industry, which is supported by the "green recovery" outlined by various government initiatives. Nel ASA is determined to seize this opportunity and maintain its leadership position through major investments, rapid expansion of the organization and the realization of major projects around the world.

*Hydrogen price assumptions: Nel analysis based on electricity of 20 USD/MWh, >8% cost of capital, cost of land, civil works, installation, commissioning, building water etc., lifetime 20 years incl. O&M cost, at 30 bar.

Source: IWR Online, 22 Jan 2021