Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Type (High Temperature, Low Temperature), By Material (Membrane Electrode Assembly, Hardware) By Application, By Region, And Segment Forecasts, 2022 - 2030

Report Overview

The global proton exchange membrane fuel cell market was valued at USD 5.16 billion in 2021 and is expected to expand at a revenue-based compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15.6% from 2022 to 2030. Growing concerns related to greenhouse gas emissions along with supportable government initiatives to endorse carbon-free countries will boost the demand for proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC). The growth of commercial, medium, light, and heavy-duty automobiles with a very less harmful discharge will further foster PEMFC demand. PEMFC proposes a high-power density and can function at low temperatures allowing it to be united in numerous applications such as transportation, and stationary. The funding initiatives taken by the U.S. government had driven the deployment and development of the product across North America. The strict regulations related to carbon emission including Carbon Pollution Standards introduced by the U.S. EPA will further drive the overall PEMFCs market growth.

The growing obligation for the adoption of clean vehicle fuel to limit carbon emissions is one of the factors accelerating the market size. Since the product is fueled with pure H2 and uses oxygen as an oxidant resulting in zero harmful chemicals emitted into the atmosphere. The European region introduced the climate and energy framework that sets numerous objectives to decrease carbon release and promotes clean energy alternatives.

Government authorities in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, the U.K., Germany, South Korea, and other countries have executed numerous policies to develop H2-based fuels and hydrogen refueling stations for vehicles is further estimated to assist the development of the product market size. In 2019, the government of South Korea announced that it will build hydrogen refueling stations in line with its policy related to hydrogen that encourages the usage of clean energy in the automobile industry.

In October 2020, the Canadian Advanced Air Mobility Consortium mentioned the major initiative for Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) to accelerate the implementation of hydrogen and electric-powered vertical takeoff flights. AAM involves using zero-emission, hydrogen fuel cells, and vertical takeoff flights to provide transportation, emergency, and supply chain services for rural and urban areas.

Governments across the region are anticipated to increase the expansions by offering support in numerous forms, including suitable financing programs and funding research activities. The impact of COVID-19 pandemic has affected the PEMFC market by creating disruption in the supply chain and also affected the demand and production segment.

Material Insights

In terms of revenue, the hardware segment accounted for the largest share of 50.16% in 2021. Market participants have been investing subsequently in the research and development of photo exchange membrane fuel cell materials as the cost of these materials is high. The cost of materials used has decreased by more than 55% in the past 10 years. Further, the cost of materials is likely to drop in the upcoming years. This decrease in the prices of materials is estimated to boost the industry’s growth over the estimated period.

Type Insights

In terms of revenue, the high-temperature segment accounted for the largest share of 50.68% in 2021. In December 2020, scientists working with the UltraPress research project, a part of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research a KMU-NetC initiative, presented a new and progressive hot-pressing process with Ultrahigh-performance Concrete (UHPC) tools for manufacturing bipolar plates in the FCs. This innovation can considerably improve the operation of high-temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cells by decreasing their cycle time and total production costs.

Application Insights

In terms of revenue, automotive accounted for the largest share of 28.49% in the market in 2021. The product is broadly used in automobiles, forklifts, telecommunications, backup power systems, and primary systems. High efficiency and product versatility are expected to allow the stationary segment to maintain the foremost position.

One of the key applications of proton exchange membrane fuel cells is transportation, owing to its likely impact on the environment, which is a decrease in GHGs. Hence, major automobile companies are using PEMFC due to its characteristics and high-power density when compared with other kinds of fuel cells present in the market space. As the size of the fuel cell is small, hence, the proton exchange membrane fuel cells become an excellent choice across portables such as mobile phones and the transportation sector.

The portable segment finds applications in laptops, personal electronics, consumer products, and mobile phones among others. The automotive segment is expected to have significant growth during the forecast period, owing to increasing research and development activities across developed countries of Europe and growing demand for PEMFC-powered forklifts.

The increasing sale and popularity of fuel cell vehicles are one of the major drivers aiding the growth of the automotive market segment. With the increasing inclination toward the usage of clean fuel key car manufacturers such as Nissan, Toyota, Hyundai, and others are moving towards fuel cell EVs that will enhance the trends of the PEMFC market in the future. Additionally, growing government policies and initiatives to control carbon emissions are anticipated to create profitable sales prospects for the industry.

In the aerospace sector, PEMFC is widely used for transportation application due to its efficiency, compactness, temperature range, and lifetime. As per Honeywell Aerospace, air-cooled PEMFC is best suited for aerospace applications due to advantages such as better thermal management, the lighter balance of plant, shorter stack service life, and limited integration flexibility.

Vendors operating in the market are developing high-performance hydrogen fuel cell membranes for the aviation industry. For instance, in October 2021, HyPoint collaborated with BASF New Business GmbH (BNB), a subsidiary of the chemical company BASF, to develop zero-carbon emission turbo air-cooled hydrogen fuel cell systems for aviation and urban air mobility. The new membrane electrode assembly (MEA) technology, resulting from this partnership, aims to significantly improve the performance of HyPoint's air-cooled turbo high-temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cells (HT-PEMFCs).

Regional Insights

Europe accounted for 39.81% market share in 2021. Favorable government regulations in developed countries and eco-friendly objectives to remove the rate of emission will boost the demand for H2 power farms during the projection period. Increasing emphasis by governments of developed countries, such as Germany and the United States is likely to further foster the growth.

Europe is expected to witness noteworthy growth on account of the growing production of FCEVs. The region has been one of the major producers of automobiles in the historic years and will continue the same in upcoming years. The presence of key automotive manufacturers in the region will enhance the automobile market development, which in turn will drive the demand for PEMFC over the projected period. Continuing projects across European Union are expected to allow market players to extend their product portfolio.

The contribution of the PEMFC across the Asia Pacific is majorly owed to its extensive-ranging application in the stationary segment. Apart from the commercial sectors, the automotive sector is one of the key boulevards for PEMFCs’ demand in the region. Currently, PEMFCs are being acknowledged as backup power choice in various industry which has an extensive existence across the region.

Key Companies & Market Share Insights

The global proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) market is competitive, owing to the presence of major industries across the region. Since the companies put more emphasis on research and development activities to develop fuel cell technology i.e. cost-effective for the automotive industry. Companies such as W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. and Ballard Power hold a significant share in the global industry owed to their rigorous investments in the proton exchange membrane FCs R&D activities that is having a wider clientele. Product launches and M&A are some of the major strategies approved by the industry participants. Some prominent players in the proton exchange membrane fuel cell market include:

• Intelligent Energy Limited

• Plug Power Inc.

• ITM Power PLC

• Ballard Power Systems

• PowerCell Sweden AB

• Cummins Inc.

• AVL

• Nedstack Fuel Cell Technology BV

• Horizon Fuel Cell Technologies

• Altergy

• ElringKlinger AG

• Infinity Fuel Cell and Hydrogen, Inc.

• Loop Energy Inc.

• NUVERA FUEL CELLS, LLC

• W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc.

Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell Market Report Scope

Global Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell Market Segmentation

This report forecasts revenue growth at the global, regional, and country levels and provides an analysis of the latest industry trends in each of the sub-segments from 2019 to 2030 For this study, Grand View Research has segmented the proton exchange membrane fuel cell market report based on type, material, application, and region:

• Type Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2019 - 2030)

  • High Temperature

  • Low Temperature

• Material Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2019 - 2030)

  • Membrane Electrode Assembly

  • Hardware

• Application Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2019 - 2030)

  • Automotive

  • Portable

  • Stationary

  • Others

• Regional Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2019 - 2030)

  • North America

    • U.S.

    • Canada

    • Mexico

  • Europe

    • U.K.

    • Germany

    • Spain

    • Italy

  • Asia Pacific

    • China

    • Japan

    • India

    • South Korea

  • Central And South America

    • Brazil

  • Middle East And Africa

    • South Africa