Renewable hydrogen has long been held back by complexity—costly custom engineering, slow build times, and heavy upfront capital requirements that have stalled large-scale rollout. Now Nel ASA says it is aiming to change that equation.

 

The company announced the commercial launch of its next-generation pressurized alkaline electrolyser system, a platform it says is designed to make hydrogen production simpler, faster to deploy, and significantly cheaper at industrial scale.

 

Following more than eight years of development and full-scale prototype testing at Nel’s Herøya facility in Norway, the system is now moving into commercial deployment. 

 

Nel claims the technology sets a new cost benchmark for large-scale electrolyser projects, at a time when many installations have reached total system costs close to—or exceeding—USD 3,000 per kW. The company estimates its new platform can deliver turnkey full-scope costs below USD 1,450 per kW for a 25 MW plant, with further reductions expected at larger scale.

 

“This is an important step toward making renewable electrolytic hydrogen simpler, more scalable and more cost-competitive,” says Håkon Volldal, President and CEO of Nel ASA. 

 

“As the energy system places increasing emphasis on resilience, security of supply and flexibility, renewable hydrogen is emerging as a key enabler – not only for today's industrial hydrogen applications where we already use hydrogen, but also for long-duration energy storage and decentralized energy production.”

 

The new system is built around a modular, skid-based architecture, with factory-assembled units designed for standardized deployment rather than bespoke engineering projects. Operating at 15 bar pressure, it reduces the need for downstream compression and improves overall efficiency, while also being designed for outdoor installation to cut infrastructure requirements.

 

“We have designed this platform for standardisation and industrial scale,” says Marius Løken, Chief Technology Officer of Nel ASA. “Pressurised operation combined with a modular, factory-built design reduces complexity and improves efficiency, making the system well suited for repeatable large-scale deployment.”

 

Nel says the combined design improvements could reduce capital expenditure by 40–60% compared with current market solutions, shorten project timelines, and lower execution risk—factors that could significantly improve the levelized cost of hydrogen.

 

“Our next-generation pressurized alkaline technology is designed to unlock business cases that were previously out of reach,” Volldal adds. “This enables customers to move from concept to operation faster, with lower upfront capital and reduced execution risk.”

 

The company is targeting major industrial demand centers, including ammonia and methanol production, refining and chemical decarbonization, sustainable aviation fuels, and low-carbon steel. It also points to growing interest in hydrogen for energy storage, grid balancing, and decentralized energy systems as renewable power expands globally.

 

“Customers are increasingly asking for solutions that are simpler to deploy and easier to finance,” says Todd Cartwright, Chief Commercial Officer of Nel ASA. “Interest is growing across industrial and infrastructure applications, including resilience-driven use cases such as energy security and defence-related applications.”

 

Nel plans to industrialize the platform at its Herøya site following a final investment decision in December 2025, targeting up to 1 GW of annual production capacity, with expansion potential to 4 GW. The rollout is supported by up to EUR 135 million in funding from the EU Innovation Fund, covering as much as 60% of eligible industrialization costs.

 

The company says the backing underscores the strategic importance of scaling green hydrogen technology in Europe’s energy transition—and accelerating its path to market.