Steelmaking, refining, chemicals and fertilizers are among the activities whose needs cannot all be met through direct electrification. Hydrogen can play a role as a feedstock or energy carrier, but its own production must reduce emissions and remain competitive. The issue is therefore as much about selecting a technology as integrating it into industrial facilities already in operation.
In an interview published by Energy Connects on October 20, 2026, Aksel Aksam, vice president for low-carbon hydrogen and derivatives solutions at Technip Energies, sets out his group’s strategy. He stresses that there is no single technological pathway: the availability of gas, renewable electricity, CO₂ transport networks, storage capacity and existing infrastructure varies considerably by region.
Adapting the project to the site and its surroundings
Technip Energies groups its offerings under the BlueH2 brand. According to Aksam, the aim is to bring together technologies, engineering, project execution and operational support to reduce the carbon intensity of hydrogen production while meeting major industrial sites’ reliability and cost requirements.
This approach reflects an economic reality: a solution suited to a new plant is not necessarily transferable to an older site. Greenfield projects allow reforming, energy efficiency and carbon capture to be combined from the outset. Existing facilities must manage shutdowns, equipment compatibility, production continuity and construction costs. The interview presents the proprietary TPR and EARTH technologies as tools for progressively upgrading hydrogen and synthesis-gas units already in operation.
For industrial operators, the ability to sequence investment can reduce the risk of having to commit immediately to a complete transformation. It does not, however, guarantee profitability: gas and electricity prices, the capture rate, CO₂ transport and storage costs, and incentive rules determine the actual cost of the resulting hydrogen.
Carbon capture must be considered across the entire process
Aksam stresses that CO₂ capture cannot be treated as equipment added at the end of a production chain. A hydrogen unit is an integrated system. The capture rate must be assessed alongside heat and electricity requirements, process configuration, CO₂ purification and the available options for transport or permanent storage.
Technip Energies combines its Canopy range with Shell’s CANSOLV post-combustion capture process. The company presents this combination as a way to integrate capture and project management from the design stage. It is a commercial offering from the two groups; its economic and environmental effectiveness must be assessed project by project, based on energy consumption, total cost and the emissions reduction actually achieved.
Making ammonia an import carrier
The interview also discusses Hynext, a patented ammonia-cracking technology. This molecule can be easier to transport over long distances than hydrogen itself. At its destination, it can be broken down to recover hydrogen, which is then separated from the remaining nitrogen.
Technip Energies says its process uses a heated tubular reactor, a catalyst and a heat-recovery system. The hydrogen is then purified through pressure swing adsorption, with stated purity above 99.9%. This figure is a technical performance claim presented by the supplier; the overall economics also depend on the energy needed for cracking, losses along the logistics chain and how the ammonia was produced.
Cracking can help build supply chains between producing regions and industrial demand centers. But it does not remove hydrogen’s challenges: it shifts some operations to port infrastructure, conversion facilities and the safety requirements associated with ammonia.
Digital tools to sequence investments
BlueSight, another solution presented in the interview, is a simulation tool for existing hydrogen units. Using site data, it compares several decarbonization options: changes in carbon intensity, efficiency and production capacity, energy and utility requirements, initial economic estimates and implementation arrangements.
For a refinery, this analysis could help identify improvements delivering near-term emissions reductions while retaining the option of producing lower-carbon fuels later, such as sustainable aviation fuel. Simulation replaces neither an engineering study nor an investment decision. It can, however, make the dependencies between stages clearer and avoid selecting equipment without considering the site’s future development.
Bankability remains the decisive test
Technip Energies’ message reflects the main trade-offs facing heavy industry: choosing a pathway suited to each asset, controlling execution risk and combining decarbonization with competitiveness. Production, capture, conversion and simulation technologies are available to varying degrees, but deployment depends on a coherent investment framework.
To move a project from ambition to a final investment decision, industrial operators need predictable energy supply, an outlet for captured CO₂ or storage infrastructure, long-term contracts and stable rules. Integrated solutions can simplify interfaces between suppliers and engineering contractors; they do not remove these economic conditions. It is at this scale, rather than that of an isolated technology, that low-carbon hydrogen’s contribution to transforming hard-to-abate sectors will be judged.