1The professional, scientific and technical activities section is the second largest in terms of the number of registered entities (N=499, 29.88%). It is very diverse and contains companies ranging from independent individual energy consultants to large multinational engineering companies. Many corporate headquarters of multinationals active in different sections were registered in this section as activities of head offices before manual corrections were made. Architectural and engineering activities make up over half the registrations in the section (N=260, 52.10%), with most of the remainder consisting of scientific research and development (N=113, 22.65%), the activities of head offices and management consultancy (N=68, 13.63%) and other professional, scientific and technical activities (N=35, 7.01%).

2 As this section’s business classifications are diffuse and overlap within the section and with others, it is treated as one. Consulting and engineering bureaus can, for instance, be found in each of the different classifications. Companies doing engineering activities overlap with companies operating in the construction section (N=50, 2.99% of total), and activities of head offices with the section of administrative activities (N=28, 1.68% of total). With these, the number of companies in a combined section would increase further (N=577, 34.55%).

3The average size of companies varies greatly but consists predominantly of SMEs. Companies are generally less internationally active than in other sections, although there are still some, especially larger organisations, that are active in multiple associations. Some publicly-listed fuel cell producers also fall into this group, such as McPhy (8 registrations), Proton Motor Fuel Cell (8), Ceres Power (2), and Powercell (2). Other important categories are large (energy) engineering firms such as Abengoa (4) and the Arup Group (2), and institutions for testing, inspection and certification such as TÜV (8), Kiwa (4), and DNV GL (3). Further of note are Areva H2Gen and Areva Stockage d’Énergie, both subsidiaries of Électricité de France, and taken together active in ten associations.

4 The section, including construction, often appears as (sub)contractor in hydrogen projects across Europe. Fuel cell producers and smaller size hydrogen specialists can be contracted to cooperate in building electrolysers or fuel cell systems, with the funding coming mostly from other parties. One example of this is McPhy, which despite its relatively modest revenue – €11.9 million in 2019 (McPhy, 2020) – is still involved in numerous projects across Europe. The professional, scientific and technical activities section is interesting in the hydrogen coalition exactly because it represents a relatively broad (economic) support base for hydrogen beyond high-profile multinationals. The combination of small engineering bureaus with fuel cell start-ups, consultancy bureaus, and certification companies, makes participation from the section worthy of note.

Figure 7: Pie chart for professional, scientific and technical activities.

Figure 8: Pie chart for professional, scientific and technical activities; construction; administrative and support activities.

5The motivation for most companies in this sector to support the hydrogen transition is straightforward: business and market growth. The start-ups based around hydrogen and fuel cell technology stand to benefit from the take-off of a (green) hydrogen market, and the success of the transition is very closely tied to their success as a business. Contrary to many more diversified multinationals or sectors (e.g. chemicals, energy, automotive), many companies in this section are small and have hydrogen technology as a primary business activity. This is also reflected in the stock performance of several fuel cell producers, which has profited a lot from the renewed momentum and interest in hydrogen (Sanderson, 2020).

6 A similar business expansion motivation exists for other companies in this section, such as those working in testing and consultancy, and those in adjacent sections (i.e. construction, and administrative support). To take Kiwa (n.d.-b, n.d.-a) as an example, its expertise in education about hydrogen handling, safety procedures, certification, and related knowledge-based support tasks provides a potential future market at various points in the value chain. There are many engineering complexities and technical challenges that come with the hydrogen transition. Professional support services, engineers and construction companies with experience in this field that enables them to solve these challenges will likely benefit from market growth.