Executive summary

Situation: A European supermajor sought to refine its R&D capital allocation strategy in green hydrogen, focusing on water electrolysis and hydrogen storage. The goal was to prioritize technologies that reduce the levelized cost of hydrogen and remain relatively unexplored by competitors.

Challenge: The client needed a comprehensive framework to evaluate all current technologies under research for water electrolysis, analyze prominent OEMs and energy companies active in green hydrogen R&D, and identify technology white spaces best aligned with its strategic objectives.

Solution: FutureScaleX (FSX) conducted an innovation benchmarking exercise, ranking and rating 15 competitors based on R&D investments, corporate venture capital (CVC) activity, academic collaborations, and patent filings. This analysis provided insights into emerging electrolysis technologies and identified areas with varying R&D intensity.

Impact:
  • Validated and refined the client's existing green hydrogen R&D strategy. 
  • Identified areas of competitive advantage, including hypercompetitive and white space opportunities. 
  • Highlighted key competitors in water electrolysis and recommended technology segments for the client to prioritize. 
Identifying unmet needs in green hydrogen production technologies

 

Business Context: Our client, a global integrated energy company, views low-carbon hydrogen as a critical solution for decarbonizing hard-to-abate sectors and non-road transportation. To position itself as a leader in green hydrogen, the client tasked its R&D division with two key objectives:

  1. Develop technologies that enable affordable and sustainable production of green hydrogen.
  2. Research innovations that could provide a long-term competitive edge in the green hydrogen market.

To address these objectives, the client engaged FSX to deliver a comprehensive solution that meets both priorities.  

Business Requirement: The client initially asked FSX to concentrate on the broader water electrolysis value chain, aiming to identify solutions that lower both capital and operating costs of electrolyzers. Additionally, the client sought insights into:

  • Industry players active in water electrolysis R&D.
  • Technologies with the highest and lowest levels of R&D activity.
  • Technology segments with significant emerging startup activity.

By evaluating these parameters, the client intended to allocate R&D capital strategically, targeting innovation white spaces that would secure a sustainable competitive advantage. 

 

Key deliverables
  • Delivered a comprehensive analysis of the client's R&D positioning within the green hydrogen landscape, validating and refining its electrolysis strategy. 
  • Provided detailed insights into emerging trends and peer research priorities in green hydrogen production, highlighting cost-reducing technologies. 
  • Identified hypercompetitive technology segments, potential underexplored white spaces, and areas best suited for the client’s R&D investment. 
  • Assessed peer collaborations across the green hydrogen value chain, including partnerships with electrolyzer manufacturers, chemical suppliers, material providers, and other relevant partners. 
The FSX solution framework FSX utilizes a 3-step process to conduct peer benchmarking in green hydrogen production
Assess
key-learning
Step 1:

Peer Identification & Search Engine

  • Competitor universe setup: Screened energy and industry peers who are direct competitors to the client and are active in hydrogen production. 
  • Robust search engine: Prepared robust search engine, keywords identification, and identified relevant IPCs-CPCs for different concepts. 
  • Grouping of taxonomy: Proposed structured categorization of relevant IP and academic data.  



Step 2:

IP and Academic Screening

  • IP data screening: Screened an exhaustive list of patents authored by peers.
  • Screening of NPL: Screened an exhaustive list of publications authored by peers.
  • Analyze each peer: Gathered datapoints regarding academic/industrial partners listed as co-affiliations. 
Most preferred companies
Model of engagement
Viability of GTM strategy
Entry barriers & success factors

Credibility of market claims
Action
Step 3:

Startup & Collaboration Analysis

Partnership ecosystem
  • Assessed various joint ventures and technology partnerships led by peers in hydrogen. 
Startup engagement
  • Identified peer collaborations and investments in green hydrogen startups. 
Market approach
  • Analyzed peer-led research collaborations with universities and grants provided to academic institutions.

FSX sample output

Green H2 peer research
Green H2_innovation focus
Green H2_peers research interest

The FSX methodology

Sustainable-growth-as-a-service: A systems-level approach that connects the dots, identifying critical tipping points and solutions that matter. 

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Policy & Regulation

Carrots vs. Sticks

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Innovation & Technology

Potential vs. Scale

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Techno-economics

Tipping points vs. ROI

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Supply Chain

Technical vs. Capital Readiness

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Digitalization

Time-to-market vs. Payback Period

Partnership & Ecosystem

Risk vs. Reward

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