RE: Behemoth18 Dec 2025 08:45
Håkon Volldal, CEO of Nel wrote this in LinkedIn. See also below Dennis response to that.
"Cancellations, delays, and bankruptcies". Is this a good summary of the hydrogen industry in 2025?
No, not in my opinion. The public debate about hydrogen often swings between extreme optimism and pessimism. The euphoria surrounding the industry a couple of years ago seems to have been replaced with doom and gloom perspectives. Dreamers are pitted against haters.
However, if we take an objective look at the facts presented in Hydrogen Council's Global Hydrogen Compass 2025, we can see that:
🟣 The global clean hydrogen project pipeline grew to more than 1,700 projects in 2025.
🟣 More than 500 projects are already in operation, under construction, or have passed final investment decision (FID).
🟣 Committed investments now exceed $110 bn.
Based on the above, I think it is fair to say that companies keep investing in hydrogen and that the industry continues to mature and progress. For sure, there have been cancellations and delays in 2025 but that is natural in an industry under development. Acknowledging that hydrogen is not the answer to every energy transition problem and separating the good business cases from the not so good are necessary steps in building a healthy future hydrogen ecosystem.
If we want to understand where the hydrogen industry is going next year, we need to focus on the projects, applications, and use cases that are now emerging and why they make sense for the companies that invest in them. At the end of the day it's about realities, not (extreme) opinions. It's about (aggregated) facts and data, not a few negative media headlines.
Response from Dennis:
Well summarised, Håkon. While market emotions swung between hype (like AI right now) and apocalypse, the reality is that a growing number of important landmark projects are being built. Taking a step back from the catchy news headlines: in my view there are more positives than negatives, and green hydrogen is increasingly used to decarbonise a broad range of industrial processes.
Weaker technologies and players (often referred to as the industry tourists) are squeezed out of the market - a consolidation that is likewise expected and necessary in a maturing industry.
Looking forward to see what 2026 is holding for our industry.
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