Norway makes a hydrogen play in Texas

HydrogenPro, a Norway-based electrolyzer manufacturer for hydrogen production, announced plans this morning to invest as much as $50 million to open a factory in Texas.

Why it matters: The company explicitly cited the Inflation Reduction Act’s role in accelerating hydrogen development — offering the latest sign of how incentives in the new climate law are already drawing foreign investment to the U.S.

What’s happening: HydrogenPro plans to develop 500 MW of manufacturing capacity at a brownfield site.

• The company contends that the factory will make it the “only viable large-scale player” for high-pressure alkaline electrolyzers.
• "The US factory will be our bridgehead into the North American market,” CEO Tarjei Johansen said in a statement.

Catch up fast: Electrolyzers split the hydrogen and oxygen molecules in water. When powered by renewables, they’re the main method for making “green hydrogen.”

State of play: Electrolyzer manufacturing is largely concentrated in Europe. But U.S. capacity is rapidly expanding.

• America’s project pipeline has swelled 10x to about 5 GW, per S&P Global.

Zoom in: Bloom Energy last fall reportedly became the world’s largest electrolyzer maker.

• The San Jose, Calif.-based company expanded output to 2 GW, double the closest competitor, per Hydrogen Insight.

Meanwhile, industrial giant Cummins last fall announced plans to build an electrolyzer factory in Minnesota, with manufacturing capacity starting at 500 MW and potentially growing to 1 GW.

• EvolOH, a Menlo Park, Calif.-based startup, this month said it would build a 3.75 GW plant — what it declared “the world’s largest” — in Massachusetts.