# Power-to-X: Value chain

The four businesses that must line up for one plant

Source page: https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_power_to_x/valuechain/

What this tab covers Who does what, from equipment makers to builders, owners, operators, traders and users, with the leading companies at each step.

A Power-to-X plant combines four businesses: cheap clean power, electrolysis, a CO2 or nitrogen source, and a chemical synthesis plant, with storage tanks to buffer variable output. It sells to shipping, aviation and chemicals.

#### The chain
 Power and electrolysis CO2 supply Synthesis technology licensors Synthesis plants and early projects Users

| Stage | What happens | Leading companies |
|---|---|---|
| **Power and electrolysis** | Renewable plants feeding large electrolysers; NEOM in Saudi Arabia uses 2.2 GW of alkaline electrolysers for green ammonia. | thyssenkrupp nucera (Germany) NEOM Green Hydrogen (Saudi Arabia)^[1](https://www.iea.org/reports/the-role-of-e-fuels-in-decarbonising-transport)^[5](https://ir-api.eqs.com//media/document/5cf6586c-ca10-433a-9464-0d277fdd9ced/assets/thyssenkrupp_nucera_General_Investor_Presentation_May_2026.pdf) |
| **CO2 supply** | Biogenic CO2 from fermentation costs USD 20-30/t; a large corn-ethanol plant's 1 Mt a year could feed about 1 GWe of e-fuel plant. Direct air capture is the fully circular but costly option: Occidental bought Carbon Engineering in 2023 and builds plants through 1PointFive, and Zero Carbon Systems bought Global Thermostat in 2024. | Climeworks (Switzerland) 1PointFive / Occidental (United States) Zero Carbon Systems (United States)^[1](https://www.iea.org/reports/the-role-of-e-fuels-in-decarbonising-transport)^[4](https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/sustainability/articles/10.3389/frsus.2023.1167713/pdf)^[8](https://www.blg.com/en/about-us/deals-and-suits/2023/11/occidental-petroleum-completes-us1-1-billion-acquisition-of-carbon-engineering-ltd)^[9](https://www.globalthermostat.com/news-and-updates/zero-carbon-systems-acquires-global-thermostat-and-its-best-in-class-technology-to-capture-carbon-dioxide-from-the-air) |
| **Synthesis technology licensors** | Process licensors sell the reactor designs and catalysts. KBR reports 14 renewable ammonia loop licences; Johnson Matthey's catalyst business, including the FT CANS process developed with bp, became part of Honeywell in July 2026. | KBR (United States) Topsoe (Denmark) thyssenkrupp Uhde (Germany) Casale (Switzerland) Honeywell UOP (United States) Air Liquide (France)^[10](https://www.bcinsight.crugroup.com/2025/11/20/status-of-renewable-ammonia-projects-and-technology-licensors/)^[11](https://www.iea.org/reports/global-hydrogen-review-2026/investment-and-innovation)^[12](https://matthey.com/media/2025/willis-sustainable-fuels)^[13](https://www.honeywell.com/us/en/news/press-releases/2026/07/honeywell-technologies-completes-acquisition-of-johnson-matthey-s-catalyst-technologies-business)^[14](https://engineering.airliquide.com/technologies/methanol) |
| **Synthesis plants and early projects** | Electrolytic ammonia has run at small scale since 1965. Newer plants make ammonia, methanol and methane. | Industrias Cachimayo (Peru, 20 MWe, about 50 t ammonia/day) Iberdrola (Spain, 20 MWe ammonia, 2022) Ningxia Solar Hydrogen Project (China, 150 MWe, methanol) ETOGAS (Germany, 6 MWe methane pilot) Scatec and ACME (Oman, project past final investment decision)^[1](https://www.iea.org/reports/the-role-of-e-fuels-in-decarbonising-transport) |
| **Users** | Shipping (about 70 Mt a year of e-ammonia or e-methanol would meet 10% of its energy) and aviation (10% e-kerosene would need about 200 Mt of CO2 a year). Over 85% of low-emissions hydrogen investment goes to existing industrial uses, refineries or hydrogen-based fuels. | ^[1](https://www.iea.org/reports/the-role-of-e-fuels-in-decarbonising-transport)^[11](https://www.iea.org/reports/global-hydrogen-review-2026/investment-and-innovation) |

#### Sources

1. [The Role of E-fuels in Decarbonising Transport (revised January 2024)](https://www.iea.org/reports/the-role-of-e-fuels-in-decarbonising-transport) International Energy Agency, 2024
2. [Direct air capture of CO2: from insights into the current and emerging approaches to future opportunities (Zeeshan, Kidder, Pentzer, Getman, Gurkan), Frontiers in Sustainability 4](https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/sustainability/articles/10.3389/frsus.2023.1167713/pdf) Frontiers, 2023
3. [thyssenkrupp nucera General Investor Presentation, May 2026](https://ir-api.eqs.com//media/document/5cf6586c-ca10-433a-9464-0d277fdd9ced/assets/thyssenkrupp_nucera_General_Investor_Presentation_May_2026.pdf) thyssenkrupp nucera, 2026
4. [Occidental Petroleum completes US$1.1 billion acquisition of Carbon Engineering Ltd.](https://www.blg.com/en/about-us/deals-and-suits/2023/11/occidental-petroleum-completes-us1-1-billion-acquisition-of-carbon-engineering-ltd) Borden Ladner Gervais (BLG), 2023
5. [Zero Carbon Systems acquires Global Thermostat](https://www.globalthermostat.com/news-and-updates/zero-carbon-systems-acquires-global-thermostat-and-its-best-in-class-technology-to-capture-carbon-dioxide-from-the-air) Global Thermostat, 2024
6. [Status of renewable ammonia projects and technology licensors (K. Rouwenhorst), Fertilizer International 529](https://www.bcinsight.crugroup.com/2025/11/20/status-of-renewable-ammonia-projects-and-technology-licensors/) CRU / BCInsight, 2025
7. [Global Hydrogen Review 2026: Investment and innovation](https://www.iea.org/reports/global-hydrogen-review-2026/investment-and-innovation) International Energy Agency, 2026
8. [Willis Sustainable Fuels selects FT CANS (Johnson Matthey and bp Fischer-Tropsch technology)](https://matthey.com/media/2025/willis-sustainable-fuels) Johnson Matthey, 2025
9. [Honeywell Technologies completes acquisition of Johnson Matthey's Catalyst Technologies business](https://www.honeywell.com/us/en/news/press-releases/2026/07/honeywell-technologies-completes-acquisition-of-johnson-matthey-s-catalyst-technologies-business) Honeywell, 2026
10. [Methanol technologies (Lurgi MegaMethanol and PowerMethanol)](https://engineering.airliquide.com/technologies/methanol) Air Liquide Engineering and Construction, 2026

## Other sections

- [Summary](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_power_to_x/index.md)
- [Overview](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_power_to_x/overview/index.md)
- [Correlation](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_power_to_x/correlation/index.md)
- [Science and limits](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_power_to_x/science/index.md)
- [Unit economics](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_power_to_x/economics/index.md)
- [Engineering methods](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_power_to_x/methods/index.md)
- [Equipment and suppliers](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_power_to_x/equipment/index.md)
- [Relationships](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_power_to_x/links/index.md)