Driving down the cost of green hydrogen

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Nov 13, 2025

Raffi Garabedian, the co-founder and CEO of Electric Hydrogen, dives into the challenges of making green hydrogen cost-effective. He discusses the bubble burst due to political pullbacks and high costs driven by AI demand. Raffi explains the real cost problem involving engineering and construction expenses. He also highlights Electric Hydrogen's choice of supersized electrolyzers and how they aim for fossil parity by the early 2030s in markets like Brazilian fertilizer. The conversation sheds light on market dynamics and the future potential of green hydrogen.

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INSIGHT

Hype Burst From High Delivered Costs

Green hydrogen hype peaked then collapsed because delivered costs remained too high and markets were mis-targeted.
The market's $70B industrial hydrogen use remains and new technologies can still cut costs.

INSIGHT

Costs Driven By Power And EPC

Green hydrogen cost splits roughly 50/50 between power (OPEX) and capital (CAPEX).
Both power prices and EPC-driven CAPEX have risen, pushing hydrogen costs higher.

INSIGHT

Electrolyzer CAPEX Ballooned

Instead of falling, electrolyzer project capital costs rose from ~$1.5/W to over $3/W when built by EPCs.
Escalating CAPEX materially undermined earlier cost expectations.

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A few years ago, industry and political leaders embraced hydrogen as a solution to a laundry list of hard-to-abate decarbonization challenges — steel production, ammonia production, and more. But hydrogen failed to come down in costs and policymakers pulled back support. Ultimately, the bubble burst.

So what does it take to drive down the costs of low-carbon hydrogen and rebuild momentum?

In this episode, Shayle talks to Raffi Garabedian, co-founder and CEO of Electric Hydrogen. (Shayle is on the board of Electric Hydrogen and Energy Impact Partners, where Shayle is a partner, invests in the company). Shayle and Raffi cover topics like:

Why the hype bubble burst: political pullback, high renewables costs driven by AI demand, and high CapEx

The real cost problem: Why engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) costs have remained persistently high

Competing approaches: Why Electric Hydrogen chose supersized electrolyzers over modular units

The China question: Why hydrogen’s EPC costs will limit the impact of cheap Chinese electrolyzers

Real numbers: Realistic cost targets for fossil parity and Electric Hydrogen’s current pricing

Where hydrogen wins: Markets where Raffi says green hydrogen can achieve fossil parity by the early 2030s, including Brazilian fertilizer

Resources:

Latitude Media: is 45v guidance killing green hydrogen production?

The Green Blueprint: Electric Hydrogen’s bet on supersized electrolyzers

Latitude Media: Electric Hydrogen is building through the market downturn

Latitude Media: Hydrogen’s narrow pathway to positive climate impacts

Latitude Media: Why the Electric Hydrogen-Ambient merger is a sign of things to come

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Credits: Hosted by Shayle Kann. Produced and edited by Daniel Woldorff. Original music and engineering by Sean Marquand. Stephen Lacey is our executive editor.

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