Powering transformation with the hydrogen economy

Greening the electricity landscape is a key element of the energy transition, but it will not be sufficient to meet our collective net zero obligations. Major industries like cement and steel, and transport sectors such as shipping and aviation, will still require carbon-free fuels to become sustainable.

Green hydrogen offers a promising route to achieve that goal, and it depends on the ability to produce bulk volumes of hydrogen from renewable energy-powered electrolysis systems— and do so at an affordable cost. While electrolysis can extend the benefits of renewable energy into industrial sectors, scaling the hydrogen economy is a substantial challenge. Not only is it essential to expand renewable generation, but hydrogen production also needs to massively ramp up.

GW-scale factory

Siemens Energy has already taken the initiative in scaling green hydrogen production with its gigawatt-scale electrolyzer factory, which was commissioned together with joint venture partner Air Liquide at the end of last year. The highly automated factory in Berlin builds on decades of Siemens Energy’s work on Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) electrolyzer technology. This technology is particularly effective for handling intermittent renewable energy supply.

Compared to other hydrogen technologies, PEM electrolyzers enable gigawatt capacities to be brought to market with lower material, workforce and space requirements, making them the ideal enablers of a fast ramp-up. With the new factory, Siemens Energy is transforming electrolyzers into a mass-produced product, laying the foundation for the ramp-up of the hydrogen economy. Building production facilities on this scale offers substantial opportunities for cost reduction.

Siemens Energy’s production capacity and project pipeline both reflect the rapid developments in the market for sustainable hydrogen: Starting with an 8 MW project in Wunsiedel, Germany, growing to a 20 MW project in Oberhausen, and then a 50 MW development in Kasso, Denmark. The latest project is a 280 MW electrolyzer system for the German utility EWE, which is expected to go into operation in 2027.

Downstream hydrogen

The company also has experience and a deep understanding of downstream hydrogen processes. This includes compressing and transporting hydrogen, where Siemens Energy is delivering the latest generation of technologies. One example is its Advanced Hydrogen Compressor, based on an evolution of the STC-SVm single-shaft centrifugal compressor, optimized for pure hydrogen applications.

Siemens Energy electrolyzers are also featured in the world’s first fully integrated large-scale green power-to-fuel plant, the ground-breaking Haru Oni project in Chile. Using only renewable electricity, water, and CO2 from a biogenic source to produce carbon-neutral liquid fuels, Haru Oni lays the foundation for bringing green energy to areas that are still heavily dependent on fossil fuels, like the transportation sector.

This progress demonstrates Siemens Energy’s readiness to scale, ability to deliver highly automated mass production, and willingness to engage with the energy transition by helping to build a new market and industry. These combined measures also enable companies in the wider green hydrogen supply chain to confidently invest in building capacity.

Siemens Energy is flexible and will follow market preferences; however, the company also recognizes that establishing a green hydrogen economy requires substantial amounts of both private and public financing, as well as a clear regulatory framework. In Europe, projects are seeing significant delays because funding approvals are still pending. Similarly, in the U.S., the market has also been constrained because of a lack of clarity over the IRA 45V clean hydrogen production tax credit definition.

Shaping the future of hydrogen requires making it more economical, scalable, and sustainable. No one entity can do this alone. A bankable hydrogen project structure requires continued partnerships and pilots between industry, universities, and governments to deliver. We stand ready.