Czechia has commissioned its first electrolyzer designed to produce renewable hydrogen at industrial scale, but the 8,000 kilograms of annual output at Solar Global’s Napajedla facility also illustrates the gap between early projects and the country’s longer term hydrogen ambitions.
Solar Global commissioned the facility in Napajedla, in the Zlín region, using electricity generated primarily from solar installations at its headquarters, supplemented by wind power. A battery storage system is integrated with the electrolyzer, allowing renewable electricity to be converted into hydrogen and stored for later use.
The electrolyzer is expected to produce approximately 8 tonnes of hydrogen annually. The project cost CZK 35 million, including CZK 9 million in grant funding, according to the company.
The relatively modest production volume is significant because Czechia’s hydrogen strategy depends on moving from pilot projects toward a broader industrial market. The country’s National Energy and Climate Plan targets around 30,000 tonnes of domestically produced renewable hydrogen by 2030, alongside a similar volume of imports.
That target would require production capacity to expand substantially from today’s early projects.
Solar Global’s Napajedla facility is also designed around energy storage rather than hydrogen production alone. Its pressurized hydrogen storage system can hold up to 400 kilograms of hydrogen. The company estimates that the system represents approximately 13 MWh of storage capacity, while the broader project could provide up to 246 MWh of annual photovoltaic energy storage potential.
This points to one of the more technically relevant applications for hydrogen in renewable power systems: long duration energy storage. Batteries remain better suited to many short duration balancing applications, while hydrogen can potentially store energy over longer periods and provide fuel for subsequent industrial or transport use.
The economics, however, remain challenging. Solar Global’s management has acknowledged that the project’s payback period is currently difficult to establish because the market for renewable hydrogen is still developing.
That problem extends beyond Czechia. Electrolyzers require substantial capital investment, while renewable hydrogen must compete with conventional hydrogen, natural gas and increasingly direct electrification. The business case becomes stronger when hydrogen is used in applications where direct electrification is technically difficult or economically inefficient.
Czech industry provides several potential markets. Chemical production, metallurgy and heavy freight are among the sectors identified as candidates for hydrogen use because of their high energy requirements and, in some cases, limited electrification options.
Transport is another potential application, although infrastructure remains a constraint. Solar Global plans to develop a hydrogen refueling station at the Napajedla site for passenger vehicles and trucks. The company also expects hydrogen buses to become a potential source of demand, but fleet deployment depends on the availability of reliable refueling infrastructure.
This creates a familiar chicken and egg problem for emerging hydrogen markets. Transport operators have limited incentives to purchase hydrogen vehicles without refueling networks, while infrastructure developers face weak demand until sufficient vehicles are deployed.
Solar Global is already preparing a larger project in Kolín, involving a 9 MW photovoltaic plant and a 1 MW electrolyzer. The project would provide a substantially larger production platform than the Napajedla installation while maintaining the link between renewable electricity generation and hydrogen production.
The expansion of domestic production is also being driven by Czechia’s broader energy strategy. Renewable hydrogen is expected to contribute to reducing fossil fuel use in industrial sectors and providing an alternative energy carrier for applications that cannot be readily electrified.
At the European level, the scale is considerably larger. The European Union’s policy framework targets 10 million tonnes of renewable hydrogen production and 10 million tonnes of imports by 2030, although achieving those volumes remains dependent on renewable power availability, electrolyzer deployment, infrastructure, offtake agreements and competitive production costs.
