Johnson Matthey PLC Johnson Matthey: Hydrogen Seminar (3665Z)

TIDMJMAT

RNS Number : 3665Z

Johnson Matthey PLC

18 September 2020

Johnson Matthey: Enabling the transition to the hydrogen economy

 
 
Today, Johnson Matthey will hold an investor and analyst call in which 
 we will provide an insight into the role that hydrogen will play in tackling 
 climate change, our hydrogen business and its competitive positioning, 
 and the attractive growth opportunities we see in this area. 
 
Commenting on the hydrogen seminar, Robert MacLeod, Chief Executive said: 
"Johnson Matthey has been a leader in hydrogen activities for many years. 
 We have an established and profitable business across hydrogen production 
 and fuel cells, with leading technology, strong segment shares and a 
 long-standing customer base. 
 In Fuel Cells, we are very excited about the major growth opportunities 
 where we can apply our catalyst and pgm expertise to decarbonise transportation. 
 In hydrogen production, we are leveraging our capabilities in grey hydrogen 
 and methanol process technology and are commercialising blue hydrogen 
 through the HyNet and Acorn programmes. In green hydrogen production, 
 we are in testing with leading electrolyser players where we can further 
 utilise our proton exchange membrane technology. 
 I am confident that Johnson Matthey is strongly positioned to deliver 
 significant future growth across hydrogen as the global transition to 
 net zero accelerates." 
 
Hydrogen will be key in achieving net zero and is a fast growing market 
Addressing climate change remains an urgent priority. Across the globe 
 commitments to net zero are accelerating with 53% of the world's GDP 
 committing to net zero targets by 2050, up from 16% a year ago. As demand 
 for cleaner energy increases, achieving net zero will require fundamental 
 changes across our energy supply chain. Hydrogen will play a key role 
 as it helps to decarbonise energy and transportation, and the opportunity 
 is significant. We are seeing increasing momentum with recent policy 
 announcements in many countries and regions including Germany, France, 
 South Korea and the European Union, promoting greater adoption of hydrogen. 
 
Johnson Matthey is strongly positioned to benefit in hydrogen 
With the need to address climate change and the hydrogen market expected 
 to grow materially in the coming years, Johnson Matthey has an important 
 role to play in enabling the transition to the hydrogen economy. 
 
We have been a leader in hydrogen for many years and already have an 
 established and profitable hydrogen business, with sales of c.GBP100 
 million annually across fuel cells and hydrogen production technologies. 
 Across the group, we have core science capabilities in pgm (platinum 
 group metal) catalysis and recycling, electrochemistry and surface chemistry 
 that can enable fuel cell and green hydrogen production solutions and 
 our process technology expertise underpins our success in blue hydrogen. 
 With our leading technology, strong segment shares and established customer 
 relationships, we are strongly positioned to benefit from this attractive 
 market. 
 
Fuel cells will play a key role in the decarbonisation of transportation 
We have been active in fuel cells for over 20 years and have a profitable 
 business, with a strong position in the materials handling market as 
 well as the emerging transportation sector. 
 
Our business has grown strongly, with a 38% sales CAGR since 2015. Our 
 customers include major global truck and automotive OEMs and leading 
 players in the important and fast growing Chinese market. We are positioned 
 across the fuel cell components value chain, which includes manufacture 
 of catalyst coated membranes (CCM) and membrane electrode assemblies 
 (MEA). Together with our pgm expertise, this enables us to deliver high 
 performance solutions, optimised for specific applications. We have established 
 manufacturing at scale and our additional capacity in the UK and China 
 will be completed by the end of 2020/21. 
 
Looking forward, we expect that heavy duty trucks and automotive applications 
 will be a major opportunity and we are working on platforms due to launch 
 over the next few years. The addressable market for CCM supply into fuel 
 cell truck and automotive applications for Johnson Matthey is estimated 
 to be worth c.GBP1 billion per annum in 2030 and more than GBP10 billion 
 per annum in 2040(1). 
 
Strong position in hydrogen production technologies 
We have a strong presence across different hydrogen production technologies. 
 In grey hydrogen (production of hydrogen from natural gas), we have technology 
 for the supply of catalysts and a c.40% segment share(2). 
 
In blue hydrogen (production of hydrogen from natural gas with carbon 
 capture), we have leading technology which is more efficient, with lower 
 capital intensity(3) and captures over 95% of produced carbon dioxide 
 at high pressure and purity, enabling easier transportation and storage. 
 Our technology is already being commercialised at scale and we are involved 
 with two high profile and world scale hydrogen projects in the UK - HyNet 
 and Acorn. Blue hydrogen will be critical in the transition to net zero 
 and our opportunity is primarily through the licensing of our technology 
 and the supply of engineering and process catalysts. The addressable 
 market for blue hydrogen for Johnson Matthey could be worth GBP1.5 billion 
 to GBP2 billion per annum in 2030 . 
 
The opportunity in green hydrogen (production of hydrogen from electrolysis 
 of water using renewable energy) is founded on our proton exchange membrane 
 technology (PEM), our core competency in fuel cells and our expertise 
 in pgm catalysis and closed loop offerings. We are well positioned in 
 this space and currently testing with leading electrolyser players. The 
 addressable market for PEM technology for Johnson Matthey could be worth 
 GBP2 billion to GBP4 billion per annum in 2030 . 
 
Both blue and green hydrogen production technologies will be critical 
 in the transition to net zero. With our established hydrogen business, 
 knowledge of the hydrogen market and our presence across different technologies 
 we are strongly positioned to benefit from the substantial growth expected 
 in this market. 
 
1.   Based on LMC, KGP, Johnson Matthey, McKinsey and OEM assumptions. 
2.   Based on Johnson Matthey data. 
3.   Compared to conventional steam methane reforming technology with carbon 
      capture and storage. Johnson Matthey Technol. Rev., 2020, 64, (3), 
      357-37. 
4.   Based on total hydrogen demand (Hydrogen Council, "Hydrogen, Scaling 
      up" report, 2017); average plant size of 160kt p.a. (equivalent to 
      twice the size of HyNet project Phase 1). Assumes c.30% of the market 
      is blue hydrogen (Johnson Matthey, IEA, BP). 
5.   Assumes c.30% of the market is green hydrogen, of which the PEM share 
      is 30-60% (Johnson Matthey, IEA, BP). 
 
 

Ends

 
Enquiries: 
 
Investor Relations    Director of Investor Relations        020 7269 8241 
 Martin Dunwoodie      Senior Investor Relations Manager     020 7269 8235 
 Louise Curran         Investor Relations Manager            020 7269 8242 
 Jane Crosby 
 
 Media                                                      020 7269 8407 
  Sally Jones         Director of Corporate Relations        020 7353 4200 
  Simon Pilkington     Tulchan Communications 
 

This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact [e-mail] or visit www.rns.com.

RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services. For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange use the personal data you provide us, please see our Privacy Policy.

END

MSCKKOBNDBKBNCD

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 18, 2020 02:00 ET (06:00 GMT)