Dortmund, May 15 – thyssenkrupp nucera, a world-leading provider of electrolysis technologies, confirmed the softened hydrogen electrolysis market as it issued its latest quarterly financials. The company serves two business areas — green hydrogen, and chlor-alkali electrolysis for the industrial production of chlorine and caustic soda. This article focuses on its green H2 segment, experiencing a downturn compared to continued growth in the chlor-alkali sector. In short, current revenues are up but future orders are down, long-term prospects remain robust.
“The continued challenging conditions in the green hydrogen market could not be entirely avoided,” reported the company, as its results quantified the extent of impact. “Regulatory uncertainties and high start-up costs continued to weigh on investment activity during the reporting period and led to project delays.”
Order intake in its green hydrogen (gH2) segment remained below the prior-year level in the second quarter of 2024/2025 at EUR 4 million, amounting to one-third of the EUR 12 million a year earlier. In the first six months of 2024/2025, order intake totaled EUR 178 million, compared with EUR 251 million in the same period of the previous year. The scheduled implementation of customer projects led to a decline in the order backlog. In the gH2 segment, the order backlog stood at EUR 0.4 billion, half the March 31, 2024 amount of EUR 0.8 billion.
Sales in the gH2 segment, however, which uses alkaline water electrolysis (AWE) technology, actually grew significantly. The Stegra project in Sweden and the NEOM project in Saudi Arabia were the main drivers of revenue growth of 23% to EUR 120 million, compared to the prior-year quarter of EUR 97 million. In the first half of the 2024/2025 fiscal year, the electrolysis specialist’s sales in the business with technologies for the production of green hydrogen increased by 27 percent to EUR 274 million (previous year: EUR 216 million.
To strengthen its competitive position, thyssenkrupp nucera has invested heavily in research and development, focusing on alkaline water electrolysis and high-temperature SOEC electrolysis, the company noted. R&D expenditure amounted to EUR 8 million in the second quarter compared to the previous year’s quarter of EUR 9 million, and remained unchanged at EUR 15 million for the first half of the year.
“Green hydrogen, a climate-friendly energy source, is and will remain the central pillar of the decarbonization strategies required by industry worldwide. The growth prospects for the hydrogen market remain intact, despite the challenges currently facing the global hydrogen market. With more than 60 years of experience in electrolysis technology, we at thyssenkrupp nucera have the necessary technological expertise,” says Dr. Werner Ponikwar, CEO of thyssenkrupp nucera, ”although large-scale projects naturally have longer development times – we remain one of the most sought-after partners on the market.”
“Our business model, with its necessary high degree of flexibility, and our strong financial position—combined with strict cost discipline—give us the necessary staying power and leeway to make the necessary future investments in research and development, even in uncertain times,” said Dr. Stefan Hahn, Chief Financial Officer.
The Management Board hconfirmed its forecast for fiscal year 2024/2025. Sales of between EUR 850 million and EUR 950 million are expected for fiscal year 2024/2025, compared to EUR 862 for the previous year. The implementation of projects already contractually agreed is expected to contribute significantly to sales growth.
Looking ahead, according to the Management Board’s expectations, sales for the company in the green hydrogen segment are expected to be between EUR 450 million and EUR 550 million for the 2024/2025 fiscal year (previous year: EUR 524 million). Losses in the segment are expected to continue, but at a reduced level, with earnings forecast to improve to a negative mid-double-digit million euro amount (previous year: EUR –76 million).
scalum for large-scale alkaline-water electrolysis
scalum® is thyssenkrupp nucera’s module for alkaline water electrolysis (AWE). Marking a significant milestone in the company’s development path, it can combine about 300 high-efficiency cells into one powerful unit with a system capacity of 20 MW. Designed as a standardized modular solution that can be easily interconnected and scaled up unit by unit. The prefabricated units can be easily transported, installed and interconnected to obtain the desired plant capacity, up to several hundred megawatts or even gigawatts as a cost efficient, highly modularized solution for large-scale green hydrogen production.
For more info, see www.thyssenkrupp-nucera.com.
