Hydrogen & fuel cells
Electrolysers, low-emissions hydrogen, fuel cells and hydrogen vehicles: a 100 Mt fossil market trying to go clean
The hydrogen market covers making hydrogen (today almost entirely from unabated natural gas and coal, increasingly by water electrolysis or with carbon capture), the equipment that makes it (electrolysers), and the equipment that uses it (stationary and vehicle fuel cells, refuelling stations). Global demand passed 100 Mt in 2025, almost all for refining, ammonia, methanol and other industrial uses; low-emissions hydrogen was almost 1 Mt of that. Investment in low-emissions production nearly doubled in 2025 to about USD 7 billion, but the announced project pipeline is shrinking, electrolyser makers are consolidating, and outside China clean hydrogen still costs more than fossil hydrogen and depends on subsidies. The strongest current growth is in fuel cells for power (Bloom Energy, data centres) and in Chinese electrolysis and fuel cell trucks.
new market · sits inside NAICS 325120, 335999, 336110 · researched 2026-11-14
global hydrogen demand · world100
↗million tonnes (Mt), 'surpassed' · 2025
low-emissions hydrogen production · world1
↗Mt ('almost 1 Mt', +20% y/y) · 2025
installed electrolysis capacity · world4
↗GW ('surpass 4 GW', doubled in 2025) · 2025
investment (capital spending on low-emissions hydrogen projects) · world7
↗USD billions ('nearly') · 2025
G
Growth
Dated and sourced; forecasts are labelled as forecasts.
- 2026-06IEA (June 2026): investment in low-emissions hydrogen production could reach nearly USD 10 billion in 2026 (estimate), with electrolysis around 70% of it; China holds more than 60% of committed electrolysis capacity by 2026 but 25% of investment, Europe under 20% of capacity but 45% of investment. ↗
- 2026-06IEA (June 2026): committed low-emissions production reaches 4.3 Mt by 2030, possibly more than 6 Mt if strong-potential projects take FID in 2026-27 (forecast); the announced pipeline shrank by 10 Mt to 27 Mt by 2030, and more than 100 GW of announced electrolysis could miss 2030 without FIDs before end-2027. New FIDs fell below 0.8 Mtpa in 2025 after two years near 1 Mtpa. ↗
- 2026-06IEA (June 2026): fuel cell electric vehicle stock grew 20% in 2025 to almost 130,000, driven by truck sales in China and car sales in Korea; IEA projects stock to triple by 2030 (forecast), with trucks and buses about 60% and 30% of hydrogen use. ↗
- 2026-06IEA (June 2026): hydrogen's share of energy venture capital fell from a 13% peak in 2023 to 4% in 2025; Bloom Energy added almost USD 80 billion in market capitalisation in the past year on AI data-centre power demand for its fuel cells (initially running on natural gas). ↗
S
Segments
Each linked segment has its own page with its companies.
- Electrolysers 6 — Alkaline, PEM and solid-oxide equipment that splits water into hydrogen; China leads manufacturing and installations
- Low-emissions hydrogen production 2 — Renewable/electrolytic ('green') and fossil-with-CCUS ('blue') hydrogen plants selling to refineries, ammonia, methanol and fuels
- Incumbent industrial hydrogen & gases — Fossil-based hydrogen made and piped by industrial gas companies for refining and chemicals (the 100 Mt base market)
- Stationary fuel cells 3 — Fuel cell power systems for data centres, utilities and industry, today often on natural gas
- Fuel cells for vehicles 4 — Fuel cell stacks and vehicles: trucks, buses, cars, rail and marine
- Hydrogen supply & refuelling 2 — Hydrogen stations, liquefaction, pipelines and ammonia/carrier-based trade
C
Leading companies in hydrogen & fuel cells
12 companies, with the scale each source states.
| Company | Where | What they do | Scale |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plug Power PLUG ↗ | Slingerlands, NY, United States | PEM fuel cells (notably for material handling), electrolysers and hydrogen supply | revenue: 709.9 USD millions (FY2025, 10-K) (2025) ↗ |
| Bloom Energy BE ↗ | San Jose, CA, United States | Solid-oxide fuel cell power systems (largely for data centres, initially on natural gas) and solid-oxide electrolysers | revenue: 2,024 USD millions (FY2025, 10-K) (2025) ↗ |
| FuelCell Energy FCEL ↗ | Danbury, CT, United States | Carbonate and solid-oxide fuel cell power plants and electrolysis | revenue: 158.2 USD millions (FY ended Oct 2025, 10-K) (2025) ↗ |
| Ballard Power Systems BLDP ↗ | Burnaby, BC, Canada | PEM fuel cell modules for buses, trucks, rail and marine | revenue: 99.4 USD millions (revenue from contracts with customers, FY2025, 40-F) (2025) ↗ |
| Air Products APD ↗ | Allentown, PA, United States | Industrial gas major and large hydrogen producer/supplier; building the net-zero hydrogen energy complex in Edmonton, AB | revenue: 12,037.3 USD millions, whole company (FY ended Sep 2025, 10-K) (2025) ↗ |
| thyssenkrupp nucera ↗ | Dortmund, Germany | Alkaline water electrolysis plants (and chlor-alkali electrolysis) | revenue: 845 EUR millions, group incl. chlor-alkali (FY2024/25); order intake fell to EUR 348M from EUR 636M on weak green-hydrogen market (2025) ↗ |
| Siemens Energy ENR.DE ↗ | Munich, Germany since 2020 | PEM electrolyser stacks from a Berlin gigawatt factory (joint venture with Air Liquide) | capacity: 1 GW/yr electrolyser stack production in first year, planned 3 GW 'as soon as 2025' (Nov 2023 statement) (2023) ↗ |
| Nel NEL.OL ↗ | Oslo, Norway | Alkaline and PEM electrolysers | revenue: 330 NOK millions, Q4 2025 only (revenue from contracts with customers; -20% y/y; NOK 799M impairment) (2025) ↗ |
| ITM Power ITM.L ↗ | Sheffield, United Kingdom since 2000 | PEM electrolysers | revenue: 16.5 GBP millions (2024, per Wikipedia) (2024) ↗ |
| Toyota Motor 7203.T ↗ | Toyota City, Japan | Mirai, the first mass-produced fuel cell car (2014), plus fuel cell stacks for buses and trucks | — |
| Hyundai Motor 005380.KS ↗ | Seoul, South Korea | Nexo fuel cell SUV (2nd generation from 2025) and HTWO hydrogen business | — |
| Doosan Fuel Cell 336260.KS ↗ | Iksan, South Korea since 2019 | Stationary phosphoric-acid fuel cells for power plants; US arm HyAxiom | — |
CA
In Canada
- 2026-01Clean Hydrogen Investment Tax Credit: refundable, 15-40% of eligible costs by lifecycle carbon intensity (40% under 0.75 kg CO2e/kg H2; 25% 0.75-2.0; 15% 2.0-4.0), 15% for hydrogen-to-ammonia equipment; IEA lists it in force, rates halved in 2034 and phased out after 2034. Separate 30% Clean Technology Manufacturing ITC covers machinery to make electrolysers. ↗
- 2024-05Hydrogen Strategy Progress Report: 3,450 t/yr low-carbon hydrogen capacity deployed vs 5+ Mt/yr announced across ~80 projects (>$100B announced investment); 8 hydrogen refuelling stations operating and 21 announced; Canadian hydrogen sector revenues $527M and 4,291 FTE jobs (2021); CHITC estimated at $17.7B of support by 2035. ↗
- 2024-05Strategic Response Fund - Net Zero Accelerator support: $300 million for Air Products' net-zero hydrogen energy complex in Edmonton, AB, and $15 million for AVL Fuel Cell Canada's hydrogen fuel cell R&D facility in Burnaby, BC. ↗
- 2026-03Ballard Power Systems (Burnaby, BC) reported FY2025 revenue from contracts with customers of US$99.4 million, up from US$69.7 million in 2024 (40-F filed 2026-03-12). ↗
R
What would have to be true
- Cost gap: IEA expects fossil hydrogen to stay cheaper than renewable hydrogen in most of the world outside China in the near term, so demand depends on subsidies, mandates and firm offtake contracts that remain scarce.
- US policy runway: since the July 2025 OBBBA, the 45V clean hydrogen production credit requires construction to begin before 2028, so US electrolytic projects not started by then lose the credit.
- Equipment glut: Chinese overcapacity and offers below manufacturing cost are pushing electrolyser makers into consolidation; Western makers have reported falling orders and impairments (thyssenkrupp nucera, Nel).
- Pipeline attrition: more than 100 GW of announced electrolysis could miss 2030 unless investment decisions are taken by end-2027; Canada's 5+ Mt announced compares with 3,450 t/yr deployed.
Quick answers
- How big is the hydrogen & fuel cells market?
- global hydrogen demand (world): 100 million tonnes (Mt), 'surpassed', 2025 — International Energy Agency; low-emissions hydrogen production (world): 1 Mt ('almost 1 Mt', +20% y/y), 2025 — International Energy Agency.
- Is the hydrogen & fuel cells market growing?
- IEA (June 2026): investment in low-emissions hydrogen production could reach nearly USD 10 billion in 2026 (estimate), with electrolysis around 70% of it; China holds more than 60% of committed electrolysis capacity by 2026 but 25% of investment, Europe under 20% of capacity but 45% of investment.
- Who are the leading hydrogen & fuel cells companies?
- Plug Power (United States), Bloom Energy (United States), FuelCell Energy (United States), Ballard Power Systems (Canada), Air Products (United States), thyssenkrupp nucera (Germany), Siemens Energy (Germany), Nel (Norway), and 4 more in the table above.
- Which hydrogen & fuel cells companies are publicly traded?
- Plug Power (PLUG), Bloom Energy (BE), FuelCell Energy (FCEL), Ballard Power Systems (BLDP), Air Products (APD), Siemens Energy (ENR.DE), Nel (NEL.OL), ITM Power (ITM.L), Toyota Motor (7203.T), Hyundai Motor (005380.KS).
- Which Canadian companies are in hydrogen & fuel cells?
- Ballard Power Systems, Burnaby, BC.
- What is happening with hydrogen & fuel cells in Canada?
- Clean Hydrogen Investment Tax Credit: refundable, 15-40% of eligible costs by lifecycle carbon intensity (40% under 0.75 kg CO2e/kg H2; 25% 0.75-2.0; 15% 2.0-4.0), 15% for hydrogen-to-ammonia equipment; IEA lists it in force, rates halved in 2034 and phased out after 2034. Separate 30% Clean Technology Manufacturing ITC covers machinery to make electrolysers.
- What are the main segments of the hydrogen & fuel cells market?
- Electrolysers, Low-emissions hydrogen production, Incumbent industrial hydrogen & gases, Stationary fuel cells, Mobility fuel cells & FCEVs, Refuelling, storage & transport.
- What are the risks in the hydrogen & fuel cells market?
- Cost gap: IEA expects fossil hydrogen to stay cheaper than renewable hydrogen in most of the world outside China in the near term, so demand depends on subsidies, mandates and firm offtake contracts that remain scarce.
Sources (21)
- Global Hydrogen Review 2026 - Executive summary — International Energy Agency
- Global Hydrogen Review 2026 - Production — International Energy Agency
- Global Hydrogen Review 2026 - Demand — International Energy Agency
- Global Hydrogen Review 2026 - Investment and innovation — International Energy Agency
- Investment Tax Credit for Clean Hydrogen (policy record) — International Energy Agency
- Policy Ecosystem - The Hydrogen Strategy — Natural Resources Canada
- Hydrogen Strategy for Canada: Progress Report (May 2024) — Natural Resources Canada
- The OBBBA: A Major Shift in Federal Clean Energy Tax Incentives — Mintz
- Plug Power XBRL company facts — US SEC
- Bloom Energy XBRL company facts — US SEC
- FuelCell Energy XBRL company facts — US SEC
- Ballard Power Systems XBRL company facts (40-F) — US SEC
- Air Products XBRL company facts — US SEC
- Fiscal Year 2024/2025 results — thyssenkrupp nucera
- Nel ASA: Fourth quarter 2025 financial results — Nel ASA
- The future of hydrogen tech manufacturing — Siemens Energy
- ITM Power — Wikipedia
- Siemens Energy — Wikipedia
- Toyota Mirai — Wikipedia
- Hyundai Nexo — Wikipedia
- Doosan Fuel Cell — Wikipedia