Editorial Comment

T. CAMPBELL, Managing Editor

According to Gulf Energy Information’s Gulf Energy Infrastructure (GEI) Database, there are 1,545 hydrogen (H₂) projects worldwide (FIG. 1). Of these projects, 364 are in the proposed stage—projects that have gone past the stage of being a feasibility study but have not received local or national government approval, firm financial backing or Heads of Agreement (HoA) or Letter of Intent (LoI) to produce/use H₂. The Port of Newcastle H₂ hub is in this stage, aiming to install a 40-MW electrolyzer and eventually expand to a 1,000-MW unit to produce green H₂ at the Port of Newcastle in New South Wales, Australia.

The operators of this project are the Australian Renewable Energy Agency and Macquarie Green Investment Group, Port of Newcastle. The partners will use H₂ to run heavy-duty vehicles, produce ammonia as fertilizer, and for export purposes. The project’s start date is projected to be in 2025. 

The GEI Database is tracking 640 projects in the planned stage—projects that have received all necessary approvals but have not started construction, received firm financial backing or HoA or LoI to produce/use H₂. The Air Liquide Normand'Hy project is in this stage, aiming to build a large-scale electrolyzer complex of up to 200 MW to produce renewable and low-carbon H₂, as well as future heavy-duty mobility applications at Port Jerome in France. 

The French government has committed $207 MM to the project, and if completed, it will cut 250,000 tpy of carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions. Air Liquide and TotalEnergies have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to negotiate a long-term renewable Power Purchase Agreement for a portion of the Normand'Hy electrolyzer's demands. The project’s start date is also projected to be in 2025. 

According to the GEI Database, 85 projects are in the construction stage—projects that have received all necessary approvals and have started construction. The NEOM (Helios Green Fuels) project is in this stage and will produce green H₂ and ammonia in Saudi Arabia. The development will connect 4 GW of wind, solar and storage with electrolysis to produce 650 tpd of H₂. The H₂ will produce 1.2 MMt of green ammonia, which will be transported worldwide, where the H₂ will be re-extracted. 

The NEOM Green Hydrogen Company is the project’s operator, with Air Products & Chemicals, ACWA Power, the city of Neom and thyssenkrupp as shareholders. Air Products was awarded an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract worth $800 MM, and Larsen & Toubro signed a sub-EPC contract in December 2022. The projected start date of the project is in 2026. 

The remaining 452 H₂ projects being tracked by the GEI Database are in the operating stage—project built and producing/using H₂. The Lhyfe Bouin Green H₂ project is in this stage and began operations in September 2021 in France. Lhyfe is the operator of this facility, with Nel Hydrogen, Green Hydrogen System and Andera Infra as shareholders. 

In February 2023, the company announced that the production capacity of 750 kW will be increased to 2.5 MW (1 tpd) in early 2024 to meet increased customer demand in the region. Its storage capacity is around 700 kg and will be increased to nearly 5 tons.