Written by the ESG McGill Analyst Team
Hy2gen is a green hydrogen investment platform founded in Germany in 2017. Hy2gen finances, develops and operates plants to produce green hydrogen and hydrogen-based e-fuels. Currently, hydrogen-based fuels are most widely produced using natural gasses and coal. However, companies like Hy2gen have been working towards increasing the production of green hydrogen, which is hydrogen created by renewable energy sources. Their first plants are developing in Germany, France, Norway, the US, and Canada. This February, they announced the completion of a 200-million-euro investment round, which will further develop green hydrogen production facilities, according to their CEO Cyril Dufau-Sansot. Hy2gen is one of the leading companies in the green hydrogen industry. In the past decade, green hydrogen and hydrogen-based fuels have garnered more attention regarding their potential to curtail fossil fuel use. Countries and companies have started to invest more heavily in developing hydrogen-based fuels. The US, UK, EU and China have all announced plans which are aimed at increasing the country’s hydrogen production in the following decades. Green hydrogen has lots of environmental and financial potential, as it is an effective energy source for shipping and aviation. Airbus has recently invested in developing green hydrogen-powered planes by 2035.
Moreover, green hydrogen and hydrogen e-fuels are an effective energy source to reduce emissions in heavy industries where decarbonization is harder to achieve, like steel production. Although green hydrogen and hydrogen-based e-fuels are a relatively small industry, for now, many firms like the Bank of America predict the industry’s total market value to be around eleven trillion. The green hydrogen industry represents an essential step towards reducing carbon emissions in heavy carbon-emitting industries.