Norway electrolyser start-up Hystar to accelerate expansion on growing demand

Norwegian hydrogen company Hystar has signed its first commercial deal for its energy-efficient electrolysers and is planning to accelerate its production amid wider customer demand, the company's CEO said on Thursday.

The company on Wednesday signed a contract with Polish energy firm Polenergia PEP to deliver a 5 megawatt electrolyser as part of Polenergia's H2HubNS project in the third quarter of 2024.

Additional customer announcements for similar-sized systems should follow this year, with demand greater than expected just six months ago, CEO Fredrik Mowill told Reuters.

Electrolysers produce green hydrogen by splitting water with the use of electricity, allowing for the decarbonisation of otherwise hard-to-abate industry sectors.

Hystar says its technology will use 10% less energy compared to currently available models and is easy to scale up, and earlier this year it secured financial backing from Japanese industrials Mitsubishi and Nippon Steel Trading.

Its current research and production facility outside Oslo has an annual capacity to produce 50 MW of electrolysers, but the company is already working on plans for a multi-gigawatt assembly facility, Mowill said.

"Those specific plans we are now accelerating because of the commercial traction we have seen earlier than expected."

Europe is a key market for Hystar, as highlighted by the agreement with Polenergia, and locating the facility in Norway "would be natural", he added.

However, he would also not rule out a plant in the United States.

"The U.S. is obviously pretty exciting as well and they are a little bit ahead perhaps in catalysing growth in the market with the Inflation Reduction Act," the CEO said.