The company ramps up investments in the hydrogen economy

Air Products and Chemicals announced plans to invest $ 4.5 billion to build the world’s largest blue hydrogen (H2) plant in East Louisiana with a total production capacity of approximately 1,850 tonnes per day. The company intends to build and commission its own 700-mile pipeline to export its products around the world. The project, which is slated to launch in 2026, will be the third low-carbon H2 megaproject in the company’s last 1.5 years. At present, Air Products and Chemicals’ investment program for the development of capital investments in the low carbon H2 segment will be approximately $ 9 billion. The company’s total production capacity by 2026 will be able to increase to 4 thousand tons per day. By comparison, Plug Power has confirmed its plan to produce 500 tonnes of green hydrogen per day by 2025 and over 1,000 tonnes per day by 2028.

We believe Air Products and Chemicals is the best bet for industrial gas, specifically hydrogen. While many companies in this industry have similar capabilities in the green hydrogen space, Air Products and Chemicals is in our opinion the most ambitious story ever. The company is developing a unique large-scale facility in Saudi Arabia called NEOM and plans to export ammonia as well as convert it back to hydrogen for end-use. We analyzed the global hydrogen market as well as the ammonia conversion and transport cost curve. We believe NEOM can be competitive as the project succeeds in reducing production costs.

Air Products and Chemicals, Inc., a Delaware corporation originally founded in 1940, serves customers globally with a unique portfolio of products, services, and solutions that include atmospheric gases, process and specialty gases, equipment, and services. Air Products is the world’s largest supplier of hydrogen and the company has built leading positions in growth markets such as helium and liquefied natural gas (“LNG”) process technology and equipment. Air Products also develops, engineers, builds, owns and operates some of the world’s largest industrial gas projects, including gasification projects that sustainably convert abundant natural resources into syngas for the production of high-value power, fuels and chemicals, carbon capture projects, and world-scale carbon-free hydrogen projects supporting global transportation and the energy transition.