- The clean hydrogen sector has reached a major milestone, with USD 110 billion in investment now committed across more than 500 projects worldwide that are past final investment decision (FID), in construction, or already operational; a USD 35 billion increase since last year.
- Since 2020, the sector has averaged a 50% year-over-year committed investment growth rate according to the Hydrogen Council’s inaugural Global Hydrogen Compass report, co-authored with McKinsey & Company.
This progress is accompanied by natural attrition, as projects with the strongest business cases advance and less viable ones are withdrawn, demonstrating continued maturation across the industry. Since 2020, more than 1,700 hydrogen projects have been announced globally, a 7.5-fold increase, while approximately 50 projects have been publicly cancelled in the past 18 months, representing about 3% of the total pipeline; most of them early-stage renewable hydrogen ventures. Structural challenges, including persistently high interest rates and delayed policy implementation in some regions, are adding pressure to this selection process.
On the supply side, total committed capacity now exceeds 6 million tonnes per year (mtpa), including 1 mtpa already in operation. After accounting for delays and expected attrition, the current project pipeline could support up to 9-14 mtpa of clean hydrogen capacity by 2030, but requires demand to materialize, and unlocking it is the next big challenge. On the demand side, about 3.6 mtpa of binding offtake has been secured. As policy clarity emerges in key markets such as the EU, US, Japan, and Korea, up to 8 mtpa of clean hydrogen demand could materialize by 2030.
China is leading the world in total committed investments (USD 33 billion) and renewable hydrogen production (over 50% of global renewable capacity), followed by North America (USD 23 billion), which is also home to 85 % of global low-carbon hydrogen production. Europe ranks third in committed investment (USD 19 billion), while accounting for nearly two thirds of expected 2030 global demand.
Author: Bryan Groenendaal
