Aurora’s latest bi-annual Hydrogen Market Attractiveness Report has said the pipeline of electrolyser projects has grown by 592GW since April this year (2022), while current operational capacity sits at just 270MW.

However, the report found that most projects lack solid foundations, saying that an additional 349GW of projects are missing key details such as specific locations, technology providers, or milestone timelines, specifically noting the 500GW Spirit of Scotia project in Canada, which does not yet have a targeted commissioning date.

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Anise Ganbold, Head of Research, Hydrogen at Aurora Energy Research, said, “Hydrogen project announcements have not slowed despite today’s energy crisis. Instead, 115 electrolyser projects have been announced in the past six months. After excluding the 500GW Spirit of Scotia mega project in Canada from the count, planned capacity globally is up by one quarter (+92 GW) since April.”

The market analysis company has predicted that 202GW of capacity will come online by 2030, however found that 62% of the projects planned to be commissioned by 2030 have not advanced beyond early planning stages, with projects in more advanced planning stages totalling 76GW globally, of which, 53% are in Europe alone.

Continuing on the European theme, Aurora found that global electrolyser manufacturing capacity will rise to over 30GW per year by 2025, up from today’s 8GW per year capacity, with Europe boasting 70% of manufacturing capacity.

According to the Aurora, its modelling has shown that Europe will require 1,900TWh of hydrogen consumption to achieve Net Zero by 2050, up from the current 300TWh. It has also predicted that the industrial sector will account for over 80% of the region’s hydrogen demand until the mid-2030s, with demand from the transport sector set to equal industrial consumption by 2050.

The forecast also expects to see hydrogen derivatives account for 32% of total hydrogen consumption by 2030, increasing to only 33% by 2050.

Dilara Caglayan, Senior Associate, Hydrogen at Aurora Energy Research, commented, “Hydrogen can play an essential role in achieving Net Zero by 2050 in Europe and in the UK. But, with new project announcements coming thick and fast, we now need to focus on risk mitigation and commercial support to unleash hydrogen’s potential and realise the 350-500% rise in demand that Aurora forecasts.”