Norwegian tech leap could halve green hydrogen price to around €1.80/kg

Norwegian firm Nel Hydrogen has announced a potential breakthrough in hydrogen production, claiming to have drastically reduced the energy loss typically associated with electrolysis. The company states it has achieved a 90% efficiency rate in converting electricity to hydrogen within an industrial test setup.

This means that for every 100 joules of electrical energy supplied, 90 joules are now stored as hydrogen energy. Historically, a significant portion of valuable electrical energy has been lost during this process, making hydrogen a less competitive energy source compared to others.

If these figures hold true under further scrutiny and scaling, the development could have substantial implications for both energy prices and the achievement of climate targets. The company attributes this improvement to a seemingly minor internal modification within the equipment, which has yielded unexpectedly significant results.