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Almost 60 major low carbon hydrogen projects including by oil groups BP and ExxonMobil have been cancelled or put on hold this year, as the industry is hit by spiralling costs, policy uncertainty and a lack of buyers.

The projects that have been cancelled or paused had a combined annual output of 4.9mn tonnes, according to data from S&P Global, equivalent to more than four times the world’s installed clean hydrogen capacity.

BP last week pulled out of planned investments in hydrogen plants in Oman and Teesside in north-east England, having abandoned this year a green hydrogen facility that was set to be built in Australia. Exxon last month paused a hydrogen plant in Texas that would have been one of the world’s largest.

Equinor, ArcelorMittal and Vattenfall are among companies that have cancelled or delayed hydrogen plants in the past 18 months, while Shell scrapped an early-stage project in Norway.

The delays highlight issues in scaling up a technology that has long-held promise as a key way of cutting carbon emissions. Low carbon hydrogen — made with either renewable energy and water or gas and carbon capture and storage — has struggled to secure upfront contracts from buyers, with so-called green and blue hydrogen more expensive than the “grey” version derived from fossil fuels without its emissions being captured.

“It’s been a challenging year or two for any company trying to develop [clean] hydrogen projects,” said Murray Douglas, head of hydrogen research at Wood Mackenzie. “The willingness to pay any sort of green premium across all low-carbon technologies has evaporated.”

The consultancy has tracked more than 300 cancelled, stalled or inactive low-carbon hydrogen schemes since 2020, though Douglas said many were speculative or of low quality.

The prospective industry has also been set back by US President Donald Trump’s hostility towards renewable energy projects, leading to cuts in subsidies promised by Joe Biden’s administration, while European nations have been slow to implement their plans.

Low carbon hydrogen attracted attention in the early 2020s as a way to fuel sectors that are hard to decarbonise such as aviation, steel and long-distance trucking, and to clean up major sources of pollution including oil refining and fertiliser manufacturing.

More than 2,600 projects had been announced globally by the end of 2024, according to the International Energy Agency, including big plants in places with abundant solar and wind energy such as Australia, Mauritania and Egypt.

The agency, which estimates that clean hydrogen needs to increase 10-fold by 2035 to meet net zero emission goals to limit global warming, has said just a quarter of projects in the pipeline for 2030 will probably be built by then.

The Hydrogen Council, backed by major industrial groups as well as oil and gas majors such as ExxonMobil, Aramco, Adani and Adnoc, noted that more than $110bn had been committed to about 500 projects globally.

Chief executive Ivana Jemelkova said: “What we are seeing is a natural, expected phase of market maturation — similar to what wind, solar and battery industries experienced in their early scale up, where roughly one in 10 projects ultimately came online.”

But cost remains a problem and green hydrogen made using even cheap renewable energy can cost about double that produced with fossil fuels without the emissions being captured, largely due to the cost of developing the new infrastructure as well as distribution.

Steel maker ArcelorMittal in June cancelled two green hydrogen plants in Germany despite €1.3bn of support from the government, saying green hydrogen was not yet a viable fuel source.

Lagging storage and transport infrastructure saw Vattenfall withdraw from an EU subsidy for an electrolyser scheme in the Netherlands earlier this year, after a pan-European pipeline was delayed.

Policy support is still uncertain in many markets, despite hydrogen receiving at least $10bn in public research and development funding worldwide between 2020 and 2024, according to IEA figures.

Brussels has set a goal for renewable hydrogen to meet 10 per cent of the bloc’s energy needs by 2050 and allocated more than €20bn in subsidies. But member states have been slow to adopt legislation setting shorter-term binding targets, adding to uncertainty, analysts said.

AI is transforming industries at an unprecedented pace. More than just a tool, this rapidly evolving technology is fundamentally redefining how companies operate, serve clients, and make decisions. Unlike past technological shifts that unfolded gradually, AI’s impact is exponential. It compresses time, cost, and decision cycles. Work that took weeks now happens in hours, pushing organizations to move faster than feels manageable.

This pace is exciting but daunting, especially for organizations operating in highly regulated, legacy-heavy industries. Leaders know they must move quickly, but most struggle with the same challenge: deploying AI to drive tangible outcomes, not just running pilots.

Complex challenges like this are exactly where DXC Technology excels.

For more than 50 years, DXC has helped Fortune 500 companies solve their most difficult obstacles, whether transforming mission-critical systems, modernizing legacy infrastructures, or delivering outcomes that move entire industries forward.

Transforming how we work, operate and innovate

DXC is driving exponential change, transforming virtually every aspect of our business to accelerate our ability to meet evolving market and customer demands. We are becoming a fundamentally different DXC, changing how our colleagues work, how we operate, and how we develop and market our services and solutions.

We’re not just helping clients navigate this transformation. We’re living it ourselves. Take our new two-track business model: While retaining the core of our business, DXC is fast-tracking new offerings like AdvisoryX, our global advisory services business, and Xponential, our enterprise AI orchestration blueprint.

These innovations help address the most critical challenges leaders face today, including making AI work and delivering real results.

Where proven expertise meets AI-powered innovation

Clients now expect both innovation and flawless execution, not just IT services. In response, DXC has evolved into an enterprise technology and innovation partner where AI is central to how we design, deliver, and operate solutions.

We’ve spent decades building this capability, helping organizations worldwide solve intricate challenges and navigate change with confidence. Four core strengths position us uniquely to help leaders reinvent their organizations and deliver outcomes others typically can’t:

• Heritage of trusted partnerships. For decades, DXC has been the steady force behind major transformations through every technology shift. We know how to navigate complexity while keeping critical systems running. That experience positions us to build what’s next. Organizations need clarity now more than ever. DXC delivers it.
• Engineering depth that solves complex challenges. Our engineers bring years, sometimes decades, of experience solving sophisticated challenges across banking, healthcare, and other critical industries. They go beyond simply using AI by orchestrating autonomous agents throughout the development process to help clients reduce costs and boost efficiency. With specialized training in high-stakes environments, they deliver solutions few competitors can match.
• Proven ability to execute and deliver. While others sell vision, DXC delivers outcomes. We’ve built our reputation on consistent results for clients. In a market drowning in AI hype, execution separates what’s real from the noise.
• Mastery of complexity. DXC specializes in modernizing legacy-heavy, regulated, and global organizations. We bring clarity to tangled systems and processes. Few can transform mission-critical systems at our scale while keeping operations running smoothly.

We’re moving beyond technology-focused messaging to spotlight the outcomes we deliver in a world where change happens exponentially. As one unified DXC, we bring the full strength of our capabilities to every customer.

Our purpose mirrors this evolution: We exist to make it happen – by mastering the complexity of exponential change.

When you experience the new DXC, you’ll see the difference. Our visual identity and messaging are more human, relatable, and conversational, reflecting our role as a trusted partner. This isn’t about promising a future vision. It’s about solving intricate challenges today.

At DXC, we deliver the impossible.

DXC Technology (NYSE: DXC) is a leading enterprise technology and innovation partner delivering software, services, and solutions to global enterprises and public sector organizations — helping them harness AI to drive outcomes at a time of exponential change with speed. With deep expertise in Managed Infrastructure Services, Application Modernization, and Industry-Specific Software Solutions, DXC modernizes, secures, and operates some of the world’s most complex technology estates. Learn more on dxc.com.

Digital platforms significantly enhance the efficiency of renewable energy operations by integrating cutting-edge technologies such as IoT, AI and blockchain.

These platforms transform complex datasets into actionable insights, enabling better decision-making and operational efficiency.

For instance, AI-driven automation and real-time energy management systems help predict energy production patterns, optimize the output of wind turbines and solar panels, and address potential system failures before they cause outages.

Digital platforms also facilitate demand-side flexibility, allowing consumers to better understand their energy use and lower their bills.

By fostering collaboration and innovation, these platforms contribute to a more resilient and adaptive energy future.