The clean hydrogen sector has seen a significant increase in investment, with $110 billion committed across over 500 projects worldwide.

This represents a $35 billion increase since last year and an average 50 per cent year-over-year committed investment growth rate since 2020, according to the Hydrogen Council’s inaugural Global Hydrogen Compass report, co-authored with McKinsey & Company.

However, natural attrition is also a concern, as projects with strong business cases advance and less viable ones are withdrawn.

Since 2020, more than 1,700 hydrogen projects have been announced globally, a 7.5-fold increase.

Structural challenges, such as high interest rates and delayed policy implementation, are adding pressure to the selection process.

On the supply side, total committed capacity now exceeds 6 million tonnes per year (mtpa), including 1 mtpa already in operation.

The current project pipeline could support up to 9-14 mtpa of clean hydrogen capacity by 2030, but demand must materialise.

On the demand side, about 3.6 mtpa of binding offtake has been secured, and up to 8 mtpa of clean hydrogen demand could materialise by 2030.

China leads the world in total committed investments and renewable hydrogen production, followed by North America and Europe.

Despite a challenging environment, most surveyed CEOs report stable or increased investment appetite over the last two years, believe hydrogen will be a critical decarbonisation solution for hard-to-abate sectors, and expect industry growth to continue.