Coalition of seven firms looks to halve hydrogen price by 2026

A newly-formed coalition of seven energy firms is looking to halve the hydrogen to US$2 per kilogram over the next five years.

The ‘Green Hydrogen Catapult’ initiative aims at deploying 25 gigawatts of renewables-based hydrogen production by 2026.

READ: Hydrogen specialists surge on Boris Johnson’s 10-point green recovery plans

The partners include Saudi Arabia’s ACWA Power, Australia’s CWP Renewables, China’s Envision, Spain’s Iberdrola, Denmark’s Orsted, Italy’s Snam and Norway’s Yara.

According to analysis by trade body Hydrogen Council, a US$2-per-kilogram price represents a potential tipping point to make green hydrogen the energy source of choice across multiple sectors, such as steel and fertiliser production, power generation and long-range shipping.

Green ammonia, a derivative of green hydrogen, is also being tested to displace fossil fuels in thermal power generation, greatly decreasing the emissions intensity of existing energy infrastructure.

“From an industry perspective, we see no technical barriers to achieving this, so it’s time to get on with the virtuous cycle of cost reduction through scale up,” said Paddy Padmanathan, chief executive of ACWA Power.

London-listed hydrogen firms got a boost, with AFC Energy PLC (LON:AFC) up 3% to 38.91p while Ceres Power PLC (LON:CWR) and Johnson Matthey PLC (LON:JMAT) both rose 2% to 1,022p and 2,381p respectively.