The clean hydrogen industry is continuing to grow, with committed investments increasing from $10b across 102 projects in 2020 to some $75b across 434 projects in 2024, according to the Hydrogen Council.

Its latest Hydrogen Insights 2024 report also highlighted a significant expansion in the global hydrogen project pipeline. Since 2020, the number of projects has increased sevenfold, from 228 to 1,572 as of May 2024, with growing emphasis on advancing these projects toward implementation.

Meanwhile, total announced investments through 2030 have increased by approximately 20% to $680b. Advanced projects, especially those past final investment decisions (FID), have seen the most growth, the council said.

Despite these developments, the Hydrogen Council said the sector still faces challenges such as rising inflation, interest rates, and geopolitical tensions. Sector-specific issues, like regulatory uncertainty and higher costs for renewable power and electrolysers, have delayed projects, especially those focused on renewable hydrogen.

“Equipped with concrete lessons learned from the past four years, we must urgently address challenges in key markets and create a more favourable environment for project execution,” said Ivana Jemelkova, CEO of the Hydrogen Council.

“With a supportive regulatory framework and targeted incentives, investors will have the certainty they need to move projects to FID – ultimately contributing to achieving global climate targets,” said Sanjiv Lamba, CEO of Linde and co-chair of the Hydrogen Council.