Cummins has decided to halt hydrogen electrolyzer production at its facility in Oevel, ending nearly 25 years of activity at the site formerly known as Hydrogenics. According to labor unions, around 100 jobs will be lost, adding to roughly 100 positions already cut by the end of 2024 as the company downsizes its hydrogen business.
The decision follows Cummins’ move to stop global sales of electrolyzers, with only existing contracts being completed. The company’s hydrogen-focused division, Accelera, has struggled to generate sufficient demand, contributing to losses approaching $500 million. The retrenchment underscores a broader slowdown in the European electrolyzer market, where project pipelines have thinned as costs remain high and investment decisions are repeatedly delayed.
At the core of the pullback is the persistent cost gap facing green hydrogen. Despite years of policy support, electrolyzer costs and electricity prices have not fallen fast enough to unlock large-scale industrial offtake. Subsidy frameworks across Europe remain complex and slow to deploy, creating uncertainty for developers and equipment suppliers alike. While hydrogen was once positioned as a versatile solution across transport and industry, battery electrification has clearly outcompeted it in passenger vehicles, leaving hydrogen increasingly confined to harder-to-electrify sectors.
Cummins’ earlier optimism now looks misplaced. Just four years ago, the company announced plans to invest millions of euros into the Oevel factory, betting on rapid growth in hydrogen demand. That growth failed to materialize. Industrial projects have been postponed, final investment decisions have slipped, and electrolyzer manufacturers have found themselves carrying fixed costs without sufficient order volumes. The result has been a wave of consolidation and retrenchment rather than expansion.
The closure in Oevel does not amount to a full shutdown of the site. Social consultations are underway to define a restructuring plan, and around 80 roles are expected to remain, largely focused on aftercare and servicing of existing hydrogen installations. Still, for the Belgian facility, hydrogen manufacturing as a growth business has effectively come to an end.
The setback does not mean hydrogen is disappearing from Europe’s energy landscape, but it does signal a narrowing of its addressable market. Activity is increasingly concentrated in heavy industry, including steel, ammonia, and chemicals, as well as in ports, industrial clusters, and state-backed infrastructure projects. These segments offer scale and long-term demand, but they also require coordinated policy, competitive power prices, and credible offtake agreements.
Belgium remains strategically positioned despite the Cummins decision. The Port of Antwerp-Bruges continues to position itself as a hydrogen import and industrial hub, while Fluxys is investing in a national hydrogen backbone. European Union IPCEI projects are still active, providing a degree of public support. However, these initiatives have yet to translate into sufficient near-term demand to sustain a broad manufacturing base.
Other Belgian industrial players are facing similar pressure. Companies such as Agfa-Gevaert and Bekaert have adjusted expectations amid weak hydrogen demand and challenging economics. For John Cockerill, the outlook is somewhat different. Backed by state and infrastructure-linked projects, the group has focused on large industrial applications rather than mobility-driven hype, although execution risks remain high given the slow pace of market development.
