Power to Gas Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2022 - 2027)

Power to Gas Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2022 - 2027)

The power to gas market size was estimated at about USD 36.2 million by the end of this year and is projected to register a CAGR of more than 50% during the forecast period.

The market was negatively impacted by COVID-19 in 2020. Presently, the market has now reached pre-pandemic levels.

Key Highlights

• Over the long term, the major driving factors of the market was increasing decarbonization to reduce the impact of greenhouse gases on the climate and reduction in the cost of electricity with the advent of renewable sources of energy.
• On the flip side, high initial costs to set up power to gas plants and the need for additional transportation pipeline infrastructure in underdeveloped and developed economies for methane or hydrogen is expected to slow down the market growth
• Increasing initiatives in developing the infrastructure of green hydrogen in the emerging markets are expected to create vital opportunities for the power to gas market players soon.
• Europe is expected to dominate the power to gas market with majority of the demand coming from countries like Germany, France, and Spain.

Key Market TrendsPower-to-hydrogen to be the Fastest-growing Segment

• Power-to-hydrogen includes a range of technologies that utilize electricity to perform electrolysis and split water into hydrogen and oxygen. When hydrogen is manufactured using renewable energy, it is called green hydrogen and can be used to store, transport, and utilize renewable energy. This helps minimize variable renewable energy curtailment from sources such as wind and solar, provide long-term storage and grid-balancing services via electrolyzers, and utilize existing gas transmission infrastructure for transporting energy in the form of green hydrogen over long distances.​
• According to the International Energy Administration (IEA), hydrogen demand stood at 90 million ton in 2020, almost all of which was made from fossil fuels. However, green hydrogen capacities have been growing steadily and have doubled over the last 5 years, reaching nearly 300 MW in mid-2021. ​
• Additionally, nearly 350 projects with an aggregate capacity of 54 GW are currently under development and expected to come online by 2030, while 40 other projects accounting for nearly 35 GW capacity are in the early stages of development. If all planned projects are commissioned within time, it is expected that by 2030, the global green hydrogen supply from electrolyzers could reach 8 million ton per year.​
• The green hydrogen produced by electrolyzers can also be directly used as a fuel either for transport, replacing oil in light vehicles, railways, and marine applications, or as a feedstock for industrial applications. Green hydrogen fuel cells can also be used for energy storage. ​
• Additionally, the technology offers advantages over current energy storage technologies, such as higher power storage capacity and longer discharge times. Hydrogen can also be injected directly into natural gas grids. However, hydrogen injection is subject to regulations due to safety and technical concerns and varies from country to country. For instance, the limit of hydrogen in natural gas grids in the United Kingdom is 0.1%, while in the Netherlands, it is 12%.​
• Due to the falling costs of renewable energy technologies such as solar and wind, energy storage technologies such as power-to-gas (PtG) technology are becoming increasingly attractive, and the installed capacity of commercial electrolyzer systems has been growing steadily over the past few years. There are only a few commercially viable water electrolysis technologies, and the two most widely used technologies are alkaline water electrolysis (AWE) and proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolysis.​
• Therefore, owing to the above factors, the power-to-hydrogen segment is expected to be the fastest-growing segment over the forecast period.

Europe to Dominate the Market

• As of 2020, Europe was one of the largest regions in the power to gas market. The market is being driven by increasing investments and funding grants by governments in the region.
• In 2020, according to the European Commission, the refinery sector accounted for 48% of the hydrogen consumption, followed by the fertilizers and chemical sectors.
• Germany is one of the major countries in the European power to gas market. As of 2020, Germany was home to around 40 small power-to-gas pilot projects that harnessed surplus green power, mainly from wind and solar projects, to carry out electrolysis by splitting water into oxygen and hydrogen to produce zero-carbon fuel.
• According to Deutscher Verein des Gas- und Wasserfaches (DVGW), Germany is planning to build a power to gas capacity of 5 GW by 2023 and 40 GW by 2050 as it seeks to develop zero-carbon fuels for homes, factories, and vehicles. Thus, such government targets are likely to boost the power to gas market in the region during the forecast period.
• In July 2020, European Union unveiled its Hydrogen Strategy that aims to increase its electrolyzer capacity by 6 GW by 2024 and 40 GW by 2030. Furthermore, the strategy targets to increase the production of renewable hydrogen from 1 million ton to 10 million ton per year by 2030.
• On a similar note, in September 2020, France announced its national hydrogen strategy that aims to provide an investment of approximately EUR 7.2 billion by 2030 and a hydrogen production capacity target of 6.5 GW by 2030. Out of the EUR 7.2 billion invested, approximately EUR 1.5 billion is likely to be spent on constructing electrolysis plants.
• Furthermore, in October 2020, Spain rolled out its hydrogen strategy with a target to install 4 GW of electrolyzer capacity by 2030. It also has near-term goals to install at least 300 MW to 600 MW of electrolyzers by 2024. Therefore, such government policies and ambitious targets across the European region are expected to drive the power to gas market during the forecast period.
• Thus, owing to the above factors, Europe is expected to dominate the market during the forecast period.

Competitive Landscape

The power-to-gas market is moderately consolidated in nature. Some of the major players in the market (in no particular order) include Nel ASA, Sempra Energy, GRT Gaz SA, MAN Energy Solutions, and Sunfire GmbH.

Additional Benefits:

• The market estimate (ME) sheet in Excel format
• 3 months of analyst support

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