Topsoe SOEC order arrives as manufacturing ambitions cool

Topsoe will supply 850MW of solid oxide electrolysers (SOE) to Hive Hydrogen’s one million tonnes per year (tpa) green ammonia project in Coega, South Africa.

The deal, worth over $1bn, will see Topsoe manufacture the electrolyser at its Herning, Denmark, manufacturing plant, just days after unveiling plans to “hibernate” the site.

Hive Hydrogen’s $5.8bn hydrogen and green ammonia facility is currently undergoing front-end engineering design (FEED) and targets a financial investment decision (FID) by late 2027. Commercial operations are scheduled by 2030.

Located at the Coega Special Economic Zone in Nelson Mandela Bay, the project will draw on around 3GW of renewable energy to power the 850MW solid oxide electrolyser cell (SOEC) systems, producing around 180,000tpa of green hydrogen for synthesis into ammonia.

This represents a reduction from the 3.5GW of renewables previously envisaged – a saving that H2 View understands Hive is attributing to the efficiency of Topsoe’s technology.

Giles Redpath, CEO of Hive, said the electrolysers would reduce capital expenditure on the project’s renewable energy assets by over €500m ($579).

H2 View has reached out to Hive for confirmation.

The order arrives as Topsoe’s broader electrolyser manufacturing ambitions appear to be stalling.

Despite the Herning facility opening as recently as , a strategic review in March – alongside a major contract termination – paved the way for its impending hibernation and the scrapping of a proposed SOEC factory in the US.

While South Africa is targeting export-led growth through large-scale projects such as Coega, the country’s green hydrogen and ammonia sector continues to face challenges around infrastructure, grid constraints, water availability, financing, and long-term offtake agreements.

In January, the projects in Africa to refrain from jumping into mega-scale green projects and instead focus on realistic offtake and building local infrastructure and supply chains.