Anion exchange membrane electrolyzers: companies, startups and research

Power to Hydrogen, Enapter, Ansaldo Green Tech, EvolOH and Versogen are among the companies active in the field. September 2026 news reported a Power to Hydrogen and Repsol validation, Ansaldo Green Tech’s completed production line, and commercial hydrogen production at the Port of Antwerp-Bruges. Their activity spans system development, stack manufacturing, testing and membrane or electrode technologies.

EvolOH and Versogen are identified as startups in the available data. EvolOH has tested megawatt-scale AEM electrolyzers and begun commercial manufacturing, while Versogen works on membranes and ionomers and took part in round-robin performance testing. Power to Hydrogen is also an active AEM system developer, with recent commercial and validation activity reported in 2026.

The Chinese Academy of Sciences leads the listed research organizations with 134 documents in the last 24 months. The University of Science and Technology of China, Korea Institute of Materials Science, Qingdao University of Science and Technology and China University of Petroleum are also active. Their work includes catalyst engineering, membrane design, operating conditions and seawater electrolysis.

The funding data records $46,123,661 across 41 grants since 2020. This is the available grant total, not a complete measure of investment into the field. The listed funding rounds include entries that are not clearly specific to AEM electrolyzers, so they do not support a reliable field-wide venture funding total.

Panasonic is the leading listed patent holder, with 25 patents in the data. Hanwha Solutions follows with 17, and BASF has 11. Panasonic IP Management Corporation is separately listed with 10 patents. These figures identify patent holders in the dataset and do not necessarily represent each organization’s complete portfolio.

No: patent activity declined 30.1% in the last 12 months compared with the previous 12 months. The data lists 265 patents in the last 24 months. This contrasts with publication activity, which reached 830 in 2025 and grew 54.6% year over year, suggesting research output is currently expanding faster than patenting.

AEM electrolyzers are moving toward commercial deployment, but technical validation and durability remain important. In September 2026, Power to Hydrogen and Repsol reported a five-cell test lasting 1,250 hours, and Ansaldo Green Tech completed a high-volume stack production line. Recent research still targets degradation, hydrogen crossover and performance under demanding operating conditions.

The main approaches are membrane polymer chemistry, PGM-free catalysts, precious-metal catalysts, electrode architectures, and feed and electrolyte regimes. They address different bottlenecks: ion transport and membrane stability, catalyst cost and activity, mass transfer, and cell operating conditions. The trade-offs are coupled, so improvements to one component may not translate into better full-cell performance.

China leads the listed country totals with 1,871 documents, followed by the United States with 1,232, Germany with 802 and South Korea with 720. These figures indicate where activity is concentrated in the dataset. Research and industry activity span multiple regions, including Japan, the United Kingdom, France and Canada.

The listed applications include renewable power integration, industrial hydrogen, chemical feedstocks and e-fuels, transport and mobility, and offshore hydrogen. Renewable power integration is the largest listed application by documents, with 404; offshore hydrogen has 183. Recent work also connects AEM electrolysis to flexible-load operation and production of hydrogen for chemical processes.