Hydrogen Global Market Report 2021: COVID-19 Impact and Recovery to 2030

Major players in the hydrogen market are Praxair, Inc., Air Liquide S.A., Air Products and Chemicals, Inc., INOX Air Products Ltd., Iwatani Corporation, Hydrogenics Corporation, Linde AG, Messer Group GmbH, Nuvera Fuel Cells and Taiyo Nippon Sanso Corporation

The global hydrogen market is expected to grow from $9.85 billion in 2020 to $10.28 billion in 2021 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.4%. The growth is mainly due to the companies rearranging their operations and recovering from the COVID-19 impact, which had earlier led to restrictive containment measures involving social distancing, remote working, and the closure of commercial activities that resulted in operational challenges. The market is expected to reach $11.79 billion in 2025 at a CAGR of 3%.

The hydrogen market consists of sales of hydrogen and its related services for industrial and other purposes. Hydrogen is produced as a by-product of industrial chlorine production by electrolysis. Although it requires expensive technologies, hydrogen can be cooled, compressed and purified for use in other processes on site or sold to a customer via pipeline, cylinders or trucks.

New developments are taking place in healthcare with increasing emphasis on a healthier, better quality of life. Industrial gases such as hydrogen is being prepared for clinical use in pharmaceutical-based products. Hospitals such as St. Francis and VA Loma Linda have already an installed capacity of hydrogen plants for power generation process. Treatments and drug developments using induced pluripotent stem cells (IPS) will bring new added value to the industry through the application of systems using gases. This is indispensable for the cultivation and preservation of cells and tissues and is driving the demand for high grade industrial gases.

During the forecast period, high transportation and storage costs of hydrogen are expected to restrain the hydrogen market. Hydrogen is not just the smallest element on earth, it is also the lightest—as a point of comparison, the mass one gallon of gasoline is approximately 2.75 kgs where one gallon of hydrogen has a mass of only 0.00075 kg (at 1 atm pressure and 0°C). In order to transport large amounts of hydrogen it must be either pressurized and delivered as a compressed gas, or liquefied. Where the hydrogen is produced can have a big impact on the cost and best method of delivery and its broad flammability range relative to hydrocarbons. Hydrogen is transported from the point of production to the point of use via pipeline, over the road in cryogenic liquid tanker trucks or gaseous tube trailers, or by rail or barge. These factors are expected to have a negative impact on the hydrogen market.

The hydrogen market covered in this report is segmented by mode of distribution into pipeline, high-pressure tube trailers, cylinders. It is also segmented By end use into chemicals, aerospace and automotive, energy, refining, glass, welding and metal fabrication, others

Hydrogen manufacturing companies have started adopting a technology of manufacturing hydrogen from sewage. Hydrogen gas can be manufactured from sewage sludge for use in the chemicals, fertilizers, transportation and manufacturing industries. In this process, the weight of the sewage sludge is reduced by means of dehydration followed by incineration, melting, composting, and drying. This process can be used to produce hydrogen in a large scale for supply to the manufacturing and transportation industries. Companies such as Fuel Cell Energy and Graforce Hydro are investing in this technology. Los Angeles Fuel Cell Energy Inc. is one of hydrogen manufacturers which operates the world’s largest “tri-generation plant” that converts sewage into electrical power and renewable hydrogen for transportation fuel.

In August 2018, PAG, a Hong-Kong based private equity firm, acquired a 51% majority stake in Baosteel Gases for $610 million. Baosteel Gases is a Chinese provider of industrial gases, with businesses in cryogenic air separation plants (ASUs), synthetic gases, hydrogen, clean energy gases, and packaged gases.