Theses›Energy›Electrolyser materials

Electrolyser materials

Electrolyser components and materials (catalyst-coated membranes, porous transport layers, membranes, coated bipolar plates) sold to electrolyser OEMs

  • Bear
  • Closing
  • $4.1B by 2035

The callGreen hydrogen needs cheaper stacks, but too few electrolysers are being built for a materials supplier to matter; the reachable market is about $90M today.

D1D2R1R2R3C1foragainst D1D2R1R2R3C1foragainst
Fig. 1The balance. Drivers and catalysts against restraints, each block sized by its weight; catalysts hang dashed because they have not happened yet, sized by their odds. It tips toward the restraints.
  1. D1Green hydrogen is how steel, ammonia and refining decarbonise, and installed electrolysis doubled in 2025 to over 4 GW with 58 GW a year of factory capacity waiting.
  2. D2PEM stacks depend on scarce iridium and platinum and on fluorinated membranes that PFAS rules threaten, so low-iridium and PFAS-free materials are needed.
  3. R1Too few electrolysers are built outside China, so the component layer a European startup can reach is about $90M today.
  4. R2The systems layer has already fallen: Nel's revenue fell 31%, nucera's green-hydrogen orders went from €356M to €26M, and 4.9 Mtpa of capacity was withdrawn in a year.
  5. R3Each stack qualifies one supplier, the incumbents hold every slice, and listed comps trade below 1x sales.
  6. C1An EU hydrogen origin rule names a component below stack assembly, membranes or plates made in Europe, protecting the parts as well as the assembly.end-2030
Rests onthe beliefs underneath
Supported by · confidence
What would prove itdated tests, open and resolved
20272028202920302031today123456predictionswatch 20272028202920302031today123456predictionswatch
Fig. 2Each ring is a dated test: dashed while open, struck through when overdue, ticked or crossed once resolved.
  1. 1At least one European electrolyser maker announces insolvency, a restructuring with job cuts, or an exit from electrolysers between 6 Nov 2026 and 31 Jan 2027.Jan 2027 · open
  2. 2The IEA Global Hydrogen Review; a second fall in announced 2030 production would be the signal to retire this.Mar 2027 · open
  3. 3The Industrial Accelerator Act implementing acts or the fourth European Hydrogen Bank auction terms, and whether either names components.Jun 2027 · open
  4. 4No European electrolyser component or materials independent is named in a production-volume supply or licence agreement with a Union-origin electrolyser OEM by end-2030.Dec 2030 · open
  5. 5Non-China annual electrolyser installations remain below 8 GW/yr through 2030, so the component layer never reaches the deployment volume its 2035 sizing requires.Dec 2030 · open
  6. 6A European component independent signing a production-volume contract with a European-origin stack maker, or installs outside China passing 8 GW a year.Dec 2030 · open
Expressionslisted, private, technologies
Private · 6 private companies, 2 of them in the US.

M-Spin · Nel Hydrogen · Ionomr Innovations · Bspkl · Versogen · Calicat (formerly H2U Technologies)

Technologies
Who has already bet on itprivate rounds, from public sources

$71M raised by 5 companies, $5M of it in the last three years. Early: Little money in so far; a lead investor would set the pace.

Backed by a strategic investor: Ionomr Innovations, Calicat (formerly H2U Technologies).

  • $35MIonomr Innovations Series A-4, Dec 2023 $20M (NGIF Cleantech Ventures, Pallasite Ventures, Shell Ventures) · Series A, Jan 2022 $15M (Shell Ventures, Finindus, Pallasite Ventures)
  • $18MCalicat (formerly H2U Technologies)
    • Founded 2020
     Series A-2, Oct 2024 $3M (Volo Earth Ventures, Dolby Family Ventures, Freeflow Ventures)
  • $15MVersogen Series A, May 2022 $15M (Doosan Corporation, HyAxiom, The Chemours Company)
  • $2MM-Spin
    • Founded 2024
     Seed, Nov 2024 $2M (Parkwalk Advisors, Imperial College Enterprise Fund III)
  • $2MBspkl Seed, Apr 2023 $2M (WNT Ventures, Investible, WNT Investor Group)