OSLO (Reuters) – Nel Norway, maker of zero-emission hydrogen technology, will expand its operations in 2021 to make its products more cost-competitive, leading to a huge loss for the year, it said Thursday.
Hydrogen, which is mainly used at present in oil refining and to extract ammonia for fertilizer, is recommended as a possible future green fuel as it is it is free from greenhouse gas emissions when it burns.
Nel’s goal is to allow customers to produce so-called green hydrogen at $ 1.5 per kilogram in 2025, a cost level where it can outperform fossil options, down from between $ 2.5 and $ 4.5 per kilogram in 2019, he said in a strategy update.
“Achieving this would allow green hydrogen to begin to reach fossil equivalence, representing one of the most significant achievements for zero emissions solutions and a carbon neutral planet,” said CEO Jon Andre Loekke.
Nel’s share price has gone up 200% in the past year, giving it a market value of 45 billion Norwegian crowns ($ 5.3 billion).
($ 1 = 8.4685 Norwegian crowns)
Reporting by Victoria Klesty, edited by Terje Solsvik