Material Insights · Understanding the Material World

Low-carbon hydrogen and e-fuels: Equipment and suppliers

The electrolysers, reformers and reactors behind each route

What this tab covers For each method, the main pieces of equipment, who makes them (by region) and what they are made of (bill of materials).

Each route rests on a few key items: the electrolyser, the reformer and its capture unit, or the pyrolysis reactor.

Gas reforming with capture

Reformer (SMR furnace or ATR reactor)131415

Reacts natural gas with steam (and oxygen in an ATR) over nickel catalyst to make syngas, followed by shift reactors.

Europe Topsoe (SynCOR ATR), Air Liquide (Lurgi ATR, SMR-X), Technip Energies (SMR, ATR with Casale)
Bill of materials
  • Reforming catalyst: Nickel-based
  • Furnace or reactor: Top-fired SMR up to about 300,000 Nm3/h in one unit; ATR needs an oxygen plant
CO2 capture unit614

Washes CO2 out of syngas or flue gas with a solvent, or separates it cryogenically, giving a pure stream for compression.

Europe Shell (Cansolv), Air Liquide (Cryocap)
Bill of materials
  • Solvent: MDEA (process gas) or Shell Cansolv (SMR flue gas) in the NETL cases
  • CO2 transport and storage: Pipeline to a deep saline formation About 5-6% of hydrogen cost

Methane pyrolysis

Pyrolysis reactor8

Heats methane hot enough to break its C-H bonds and collects solid carbon.

United States Monolith (plasma), Molten Industries (molten metal or salt), ExxonMobil Europe HiiROC (thermal plasma), Levidian (microwave) Rest of world Aurora Hydrogen (Canada, microwave)
Bill of materials
  • Heating system: Plasma torch, microwave generator or resistive heater, driven by electricity
  • Carbon handling: Separators to collect about 3 kg of carbon per kg H2 (calculated)

Electrolytic hydrogen plant

Electrolyser system (see Electrolysers tile for detail)91112

Stacks, rectifiers, gas separators and dryers.

China LONGi Hydrogen, Peric, Sungrow Hydrogen, Envision Europe thyssenkrupp nucera, Nel, Siemens Energy United States Plug Power
Bill of materials
  • Installed system: USD 500-1,100/kW Chinese-made in China; USD 1,900-2,500/kW made elsewhere (2025)

Sources

  1. Comparison of Commercial, State-of-the-Art, Fossil-Based Hydrogen Production Technologies (costs in 2018 USD) US DOE National Energy Technology Laboratory, 2022
  2. Technical Targets for Proton Exchange Membrane Electrolysis US Department of Energy, Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office, 2023
  3. Green H2 electrolyser sector enters consolidation: IEA (reporting IEA Global Hydrogen Review 2026) Argus Media, 2026
  4. thyssenkrupp nucera General Investor Presentation, May 2026 thyssenkrupp nucera, 2026
  5. BNEF reveals top ten hydrogen electrolyser makers in the world by deliveries in 2024: six are Chinese Hydrogen Insight (reporting BloombergNEF), 2025
  6. Topsoe's advanced SynCOR solution enables mega-scale H2 production H2 Tech, 2024
  7. Low-carbon hydrogen and ammonia technologies Air Liquide Engineering and Construction, 2026
  8. Blue H2 by T.EN (company claims) Technip Energies, 2026