Green Hydrogen Global Market Opportunities And Strategies To 2031: COVID-19 Impact And Recovery

This report describes and explains the green hydrogen market and covers 2016-2021, termed the historic period, and 2021-2026 termed the forecast period, along with further forecasts for the period 2026-2031. The report evaluates the market across each region and for the major economies within each region.

The green hydrogen market reached a value of nearly $692.7 million in 2021, having grown at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 27.7% since 2016. The market is expected to grow from $692.7 million in 2021 to $5,685.0 million in 2026 at a rate of 52.3%. The market is then expected to grow at a CAGR of 40.9% from 2026 and reach $31,594.5 million in 2031.

Growth in the historic period resulted from emerging markets growth, low interest rate environment, high environment impact of conventional power generation sources and increased demand from the chemical industry.

Going forward, faster economic growth, government initiatives, global population growth and urbanization, rising investment for renewable power generation, focus on reducing foreign oil dependence, growing demand from end-use industries and global collaborations for environmental protection will drive the growth. Factors that could hinder the growth of the green hydrogen market in the future include high cost of production, high transportation costs and high energy losses.

The green hydrogen market is segmented by technology into alkaline electrolyzer, proton exchange membrane electrolyzer and solid oxide electrolyzer. The alkaline electrolyzer market was the largest segment of the green hydrogen market segmented by technology, accounting for 42.6% of the total in 2021. Going forward, the alkaline electrolyzer market is expected to be the fastest growing segment in the green hydrogen market segmented by technology, at a CAGR of 53.3% during 2021-2026.

The green hydrogen market is segmented by application into power generation, transport and other applications. The power generation market was the largest segment of the green hydrogen market segmented by application, accounting for 47.4% of the total in 2021. Going forward, the transport market is expected to be the fastest growing segment in the green hydrogen market segmented by application, at a CAGR of 53.8% during 2021-2026.

The green hydrogen market is segmented by end-use industry into petrochemicals, food and beverages, medical, chemical, glass and other end-users. The petrochemicals market was the largest segment of the green hydrogen market segmented by end-use industry, accounting for 38.4% of the total in 2021. Going forward, the medical market is expected to be the fastest growing segment in the green hydrogen market segmented by end-use industry, at a CAGR of 52.6% during 2021-2026.

Western Europe was the largest region in the green hydrogen market, accounting for 52.0% of the total in 2021. It was followed by North America, and then the other regions. Going forward, the fastest-growing regions in the green hydrogen market will be South America, and, Middle East where growth will be at CAGRs of 72.8% and 68.3% respectively. These will be followed by Asia Pacific, and Western Europe, where the markets are expected to grow at CAGRs of 64.4% and 48.2% respectively.

Global economic activity is suffering a major setback due to the coronavirus outbreak and the measures being taken to control it. Due to various country-wide lockdowns, the pandemic impacted several markets including the green hydrogen market. The pandemic has impacted the green hydrogen market as on-site work has reduced significantly due to lockdowns, travel restrictions, and remote working. The demand from end-users such as oil and gas, utilities and others came down and revenues declined. The consumption of utilities including electricity was negatively impacted in early 2020 with a slowdown in annual growth. The imposition of partial to complete lockdown measures in response to COVID-19 led to an economic downturn in almost all countries and territories worldwide. The shortage in liquidity forced downsizing and other cost-cutting measures like reduced budgets for attending events and pay cuts. COVID-19 would however accelerate the need for reducing carbon emission by a couple of years which would mean an increased demand for green hydrogen in the future.

The global green hydrogen market is fairly concentrated, and the market has limited number of large players. The top ten competitors in the market made up to 81.13% of the total market in 2020. This can be due to high entry barriers along with high capital and fixed costs for plants and electrolyzers. Linde was the largest competitor with 17.39% share of the market, followed by Siemens Energy AG with 17.23%, Air Liquide with 15.26%, Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. with 11.63%, Royal Dutch Shell plc. with 11.53%, Toshiba Energy Systems & Solutions Corporation with 4.30%, Engie with 2.80%, Ballard Power Systems with 0.70%, Cummins Inc. with 0.28% and Green Hydrogen Systems with 0.02%.

The top opportunities in the green hydrogen market segmented by technology will arise in the alkaline electrolyzer segment, which will gain $2,199.6 million of global annual sales by 2026. The top opportunities in segment by application will arise in the power generation segment, which will gain $2,271.2 million of global annual sales by 2026. The top opportunities in segment by end-use industry will arise in the petrochemicals segment, which will gain $1,919.4 million of global annual sales by 2026. The green hydrogen market size will gain the most in the USA at $842.9 million.

Market-trend-based strategies for the green hydrogen market include implementing AI technology to increase operational efficiency, offering IoT-related advisory solutions to increase operational efficiency, implementing digital twin technology solutions to reduce the risks, implementing smart meters to accurately measure the flow rate and concentration of hydrogen gas, increasing investments to capitalize on the growing demand and focusing on growth strategies and formulate a collaborative approach to grow market share.

Player-adopted strategies in the green hydrogen market include upgrading and increasing the size of green hydrogen projects worldwide through partnerships and collaborations, building modern and cleaner energy systems through partnership contract agreements, focusing on joint venture agreements and exploring green hydrogen production through strategic partnerships.

To take advantage of the opportunities, the publisher reccomends the green hydrogen companies to implement artificial intelligence (AI) technology in production facilities, use internet of things (IoT) technology in hydrogen plants, implement smart meters, expand in emerging markets, focus on collaborations and partnerships, provide competitively priced offerings, offer value-based pricing, leverage online marketing and focus on fast-growing end-use industries.