German government kicks off hydrogen boost: Rheinmetall, thyssenkrupp, First Hydrogen

Rheinmetall and Hydrogen – A perfect match!

The defense contractor Rheinmetall is currently addressing several topics of future importance. The Company has long since established a second pillar in the field of hydrogen. The Power Systems division is primarily driving the development of new solutions. This division is a system provider for drive and control technologies and is already developing components for fuel cells, such as pumps, valves, and sensors, as well as electrodes for electrolysers. A new addition is the hydrogen storage and transport division. In April 2025, Rheinmetall announced its first major order in this segment: a large European manufacturer of green hydrogen plans to purchase a total of 100 multiple-element gas containers starting in 2026. Although this framework agreement is only worth a mid-double-digit million euro amount, it marks an important milestone for the Company and establishes Rheinmetall as a serious player in hydrogen logistics.** The synergies with the defense business are obvious - energy is also needed in the field. In addition, Rheinmetall can easily afford to venture into the hydrogen economy thanks to the billions it receives from the defense industry.

thyssenkrupp to become Germany's largest hydrogen consumer

Industrial giant thyssenkrupp is known primarily as an energy consumer. The Company has been working on the transition to hydrogen for years. With the tkH₂Steel project, thyssenkrupp is investing around EUR 2 billion to gradually convert the plant in Duisburg to hydrogen. At the heart of the project is a new plant that will no longer use coke to smelt iron ore, but instead use green hydrogen. This plant has a capacity of 2.5 million tons of iron per year and is scheduled to start operations in 2028. The plant is expected to be powered 100% by hydrogen as early as the following year. This could enable thyssenkrupp to save up to 3.5 million tons of CO2 per year. thyssenkrupp would thus become by far the largest consumer of hydrogen in Germany and at the same time take a major step toward climate-neutral steel.

First Hydrogen: A comprehensive provider with courage

First Hydrogen also aims to support the transformation of the German industry and benefit significantly from it. The Canadian-British company offers an integrated hydrogen ecosystem for mobility, storage, and refueling. Since this year, the Company has also established a subsidiary in Germany and is actively pursuing innovative paths. In March, First Hydrogen founded its subsidiary, First Nuclear, which aims to promote hydrogen production using small modular reactors (SMRs). SMR small-scale power plants supply CO2-free electricity continuously and could produce green hydrogen on a large scale locally, regardless of weather conditions. The European Union (EU) has recently classified nuclear energy as green in its taxonomy, which favors investments of this kind.

Although the German public remains skeptical about a return to nuclear power, parts of the ruling CDU party and Chancellor Friedrich Merz have shown themselves to be open to the technology in recent years and have explicitly mentioned SMR reactors in this context. First Hydrogen is thus at the forefront of several future trends that analysts also consider promising. According to Allied Market Research, the global green hydrogen market could grow from USD 2.5 billion in 2022 to USD 143.8 billion by 2032. This would correspond to annual growth rate of an incredible 50%. At the same time, IDTechEx expects the global market for SMR small power plants to grow to around USD 72 billion by 2033. As this market is currently virtually non-existent, there is also enormous potential here.

Opportunities beyond the SMR fantasy – German SMEs seek solutions

Even beyond the SMR fantasy, First Hydrogen, which has positioned itself as a comprehensive provider of hydrogen solutions, is a good fit for Germany. The industrial location can only produce green hydrogen from renewable energy to a limited extent. Without SMR plants, the demand for hydrogen imports will increase. First Hydrogen offers solutions here as well. The hydrogen boost that has now been announced provides planning security.

While thyssenkrupp is already well-positioned with its hydrogen subsidiary thyssenkrupp nucera, there are still many large industrial companies that are waiting to see how hydrogen develops. Added to this is the potential in the SME sector. It is also conceivable that several SMEs will invest jointly in hydrogen infrastructure. This should create significant opportunities for solution providers such as First Hydrogen in the coming months. If First Hydrogen succeeds in winning its first industrial customers, as Rheinmetall did a few weeks ago, this is likely to have a signal effect. In this case, the valuation of only around EUR 31 million would have considerable upside potential!