Hydrogen: the Swiss-army knife element

Few companies in the world can say they’ve been working with hydrogen for as long as Nel.

That’s why Bjorn Simonsen, who, until recently, was Nel’s Vice President for Investor Relations and Corporate Communication, said the company’s history aligns with and has driven how humans work with hydrogen.

“Nel has been involved in the entire development, from the early beginnings until today. Nel has consistently been a pioneer in the field with many firsts, both with regards to the industry with the 700 megawatts of electrolyser capacity installed in Norway for fertilizer production to the world’s first publicly available hydrogen fueling station, which opened in Reykjavik in 2003.”

Simonsen also recalled that the next year Nel powered the world’s first power-to-power project, providing 10 households on the island of Utsira power from stored hydrogen produced by excess wind power – something that made those homes the envy of the island when the rest of the grid went down during an important televised soccer match.

Nel has continued to innovate, becoming listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange and constructing the world’s largest manufacturing plant for hydrogen fueling stations as demand continues to increase for hydrogen solutions.

While some are skeptical hydrogen’s current uptick is another climb preceding a fall in a cycle of peaks and valleys, Simonsen has no doubt hydrogen is here to stay, since it solves so many of the issues our world is facing today.

“It’s super abundant. You can produce hydrogen anywhere in the world and can do that with zero emissions from production to use. And its nature’s own Swiss-army knife element, being both an ingredient and being an energy carrier,” he said.

That’s why, even after leaving Nel to become CEO of Saga Pure, he’ll still be cheering the growth of the hydrogen industry in his new role.