In an sign of the growing important of hydrogen technology, Norwegian company Hystar is planning to expand its plant in Høvik near Oslo to a capacity of 4GW a year, up from 50MW today. 

Hystar added that it is also in talks over developing a large new factory in the US, encouraged by the support on offer for hydrogen development in the Inflation Reduction Act. 

Hystar’s CEO Fredrik Mowill said there was a “very big gap” between the targets set by various governments and current production capacity.  “This [expansion] will enable us to deliver at completely different scale,” he added. 

The new factory, which will have an automated production line, should be running at full capacity in 2026. 

Hydrogen is a niche product used mainly in refining and some other industrial applications, it is increasingly being looked at as a replacement for fossil fuels in other areas because it does not produce carbon dioxide emissions when burned. 

Hystar already operates a small research and production facility at the site, which can assemble 50 MW of electrolyser capacity, with first deliveries slated for later this year.

Global electrolyser manufacturing capacity reached nearly 11 GW per year in 2022, according to the International Energy Agency.