RCT Hydrogen, 51% owned by Germany’s RCT Group and 49% owned by Guofuhee, said it would begin preparing a 250MW electrolyser plant in eastern Germany, with plans to deliver its first 2.5MW system in Q1 2026.

The electrolyser facility will manufacture pressurised alkaline stacks based on Guofuhee technology, while the company also intends to establish a hydrogen producing and selling service.

Under RCT Hydrogen’s “hydrogen-as-a-service” offering, Vice-President Sales and Products Dr Eric Rüland said the company could provide hydrogen gas to industrial customers at “fixed prices”.

“Various partners in Europe have also been found for this model, with whom further projects will be developed in the coming months,” he said.

It appears the firm will target existing industrial hydrogen users, currently relying on expensive truck and trailer supply from centralised grey hydrogen production facilities.

RCT Hydrogen said it has up to 30MW of sales in the “planning stage”. It also signed a preliminary agreement to deliver two 2.5MW electrolysers in December.

The announcement comes after Guofuhee signed an early-stage agreement with Siemens and RCT GH to support its expansion into Europe last February.

Under that memorandum of understanding, Siemens would provide digital solutions for a manufacturing site, while also assisting in developing, building and operating green hydrogen plants. RCT GH was lined up to lead plant EPC.

It comes after the EU tightened restrictions on Chinese-made electrolyser use in publicly funded projects. Since September 2024, projects have had to limit the sourcing of electrolyser stacks from China to no more than 25% of their full capacity.

Increasingly, Chinese players have been looking to set up European manufacturing, sparking fears from established Western players.