Hydrogen’s Brutal Month: Billions Lost As Mega-Projects Collapse - CleanTechnica

The past month has been notably difficult for the hydrogen energy sector, marked by the cancellation or indefinite shelving of multiple large-scale hydrogen projects worldwide, collectively valued in the tens of billions of dollars. These setbacks highlight the significant economic and technical challenges facing hydrogen, especially in transportation and energy export markets. A key example is Australia’s CQ-H2 green hydrogen export project in Gladstone, initially a AUD$12.5 billion (US$8.13 billion) initiative aimed at supplying hydrogen to Japan and South Korea. The project collapsed after Stanwell Corporation withdrew support due to escalating costs and doubts about market viability, symbolizing broader uncertainties in hydrogen’s commercial prospects. Concurrently, Fortescue Metals Group scaled back its hydrogen ambitions, cutting around 90 related jobs and shifting focus from large-scale manufacturing to research and development to improve efficiency and reduce costs, abandoning its earlier target of producing 15 million tons of hydrogen annually by 2030. In Europe, Germany’s ArcelorMittal also abandoned plans