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That uncertainty could drive wildly different outcomes. If existing capacity is low and learning rates are high, green hydrogen may revolutionize energy as dramatically as wind, solar and batteries have done. If existing capacity is high and learning rates are low, investors might give up on the technology long before it’s able to scale up.

2020 has been a landmark year for hydrogen transportation and infrastructure in California. “The momentum going into next year is probably more incredible than I could ever have imagined if I sketched it out,” said Bill Elrick, Executive Director of the California Fuel Cell Partnership. “It’s no longer about proving the technology – we’ve laid a lot of the foundational pieces for this market – it’s about bringing the technology to scale to drive costs down.”

The first milestone took place in March 2020 at a fuel cell truck event in Brussels. On this occasion, the ‘Joint call for the deployment of hydrogen fuel cell trucks: a needed shift towards a carbon-neutral society’ was launched. This letter of intent demonstrated that the supply side was prepared to deploy the vehicles and their infrastructure. Forty-four major companies representing the entire supply chain pledged their support to deliver between 5,000 and 10,000 hydrogen-powered trucks by 2025 and a minimum of 100 hydrogen refuelling stations by then. While hydrogen trucks and hydrogen refuelling stations are already being introduced today, signatories foresee that up to 100,000 hydrogen-powered trucks and 1,500 stations will be deployed by 2030. The year 2030 is only part of the story, as the number of registered hydrogen-powered vehicles is expected to double every year from 2030 onwards to meet the targets of the EU’s CO2 emissions regulations.

This could be achieved with solar or wind production costs of $20-$30/MWh, and if the cost of electrolyzers falls by 30%-50%, the agency said in a new report, How Hydrogen Can Fuel the Energy Transition.

Talking about his new appointment, Grant said, “I’m pleased to take on this role of Vice-Chair for Hydrogen BC. British Columbia is one of the leading jurisdictions in the world for hydrogen and fuel cell activities.” “Through my work with the California Fuel Cell Partnership I was able to see first-hand the value that this type of public-private collaboration provides in accelerating the deployment of hydrogen infrastructure in a focused and organised way.”

In a draft document called National Hydrogen Strategy Preliminary Guidelines, seen by Reuters, the Industry Ministry said it was targeting investments in the sector of around 10 billion euros ($12 billion) to 2030, with half of the amount coming from European funds and private investments.

With capacity of 10 megawatts per year, the Herten facility will manufacture one megawatt of fuel cell systems a month for Alstom’s hydrogen-powered trains, called the Coradia iLint, as well as provide aftermarket support. Each fuel cell system will include six power modules (fuel cell stacks), a cooling system, piping, air blowers and air filters. Power modules take air from outside and hydrogen from the hydrogen storage tank to produce power.

The seven new retail stations will deploy the latest H2Station (TM) hydrogen fuel-dispensing technology provided by Nel Hydrogen. Each station will have two fueling positions and each will be capable of supplying up to 900 kilograms of hydrogen per day.

Nel Hydrogen U.S., the U.S. subsidiary of Nel ASA (Nel, OSE:NEL), has received purchase orders for PEM electrolyser cell stacks from Raytheon Technologies´ Collins Aerospace Division, at a combined value of more than USD 5.4 million. Nel’s electrolyser stacks produce critical life support oxygen for U.S. Navy crews on multiple classes of nuclear-powered submarines and are being delivered under an exclusive contract. The purchase order is part of an ongoing production contract with Collins Aerospace, and continues Nel’s history of supplying PEM electrolyser stacks for the production of life sustaining oxygen on board Navy submarines for over a decade. During the first half of 2020, Nel received additional orders for Navy stacks worth over $3.7M, bringing the total booked orders this year to over $9.1M.