'We continue to see strong sales in electrolysers — but problems persist with the green hydrogen market': Thyssenkrupp Nucera

German manufacturer issues note to the market that it does not expect to maintain current sales pace for the coming year

 

Germany’s Thyssenkrupp Nucera may be one of the most lauded electrolyser companies in Europe, racking up mentions in Time magazine’s 100 most influential firms and topping some consultancies’ rankings of leading electrolyser OEMs.

 

But in a note to investors, the manufacturer cautioned that while it continued to see strong sales for the past quarter and expected to meet its full-year forecast, it would not maintain this same expectation in the coming year.

 

Thyssenkrupp Nucera announced last Friday that based on unaudited results for its third quarter (its financial year beginning in September), it would see €500m-550m ($542m-596m) in alkaline electrolyser sales, with €820m-900m in sales for the group if including chlor-alkali equipment.

 

However, this is slightly below the €600m-700m in electrolyser sales that the firm had projected in its first quarter results published in February.

 

And while the firm had announced a 69% increase in sales recognised for the first half of its financial year, it had at the time also warned that orders were flagging amid market uncertainty.

 

“Unfortunately, the known braking factors, such as regulatory and funding uncertainties, have not lost any of their negative force,” said Werner Ponikwar, CEO of Thyssenkrupp Nucera, in Friday’s message to the market.

 

“Progress on the regulatory side is recognizable, but at the same time not yet sufficient to accelerate investment momentum again,” he added. “The result is further delays to new projects on the customer side.”

 

Thyssenkrupp Nucera has a number of large orders on its books, including 2.2GW of capacity to the Neom green hydrogen and ammonia project in Saudi Arabia, 700MW to H2 Green Steel’s integrated green steelmaking complex in Sweden, and 200MW to Shell’s Holland Hydrogen 1 facility in the Netherlands.

 

However, many large-scale projects have been slower to take a final investment decision than expected, either due to a lack of regulatory certainty on what will count as “green” hydrogen or delays in securing government subsidies.

 

Beyond sales, Thyssenkrupp Nucera continues to expect negative earnings before interest and tax (Ebit) for 2023-24 in the “mid-double-digit million euro” range. However, the company expects to report a positive Ebit of €1m for its third quarter.

 

Source:Hydrogeninsight