Nel Hydrogen Electrolyser, a subsidiary of Nel ASA, has been awarded a grant of up to €135 million from the EU Innovation Fund to help bring its next-generation pressurized alkaline electrolyser technology to market.

The technology, which is currently in the prototype phase, is designed to significantly reduce the cost of green hydrogen production. Nel plans to begin industrializing the technology at its existing facility in Herøya, Norway.

Håkon Volldal, President and CEO of Nel, expressed his excitement about the grant, noting that it will fast-track the development of this innovative technology.

The next-generation pressurized alkaline electrolyser is expected to improve both cost and performance in the hydrogen sector. According to Volldal, Nel’s long history of nearly 100 years of electrolyser innovation laid the foundation for this development. He also thanked previous supporters like the Research Council of Norway and Innovation Norway for their contributions to earlier stages of the project.

With the funding in place, the initial production scale is set for 1 to 2 GW annually, with the potential to expand up to 4 GW as testing and market demand progress. However, the final investment decision will depend on successful testing of the prototype and pilot stages, as well as securing market acceptance of the new technology.