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Energy
The cohort of ASX stocks in hydrogen has exploded in recent months and there are more companies to come.
Hydrogen isn’t the only renewable energy that promises to lower Australia’s emissions but until recently there was only one pure play hydrogen stock.
In the past few months several more companies have entered the field and the mere announcing of intent to pursue hydrogen is enough to send share prices surging.
But where are all these companies at right now and could the cohort expand in the months ahead?
It is all but certain the cohort will even if no other companies pivot into the space.
A handful of companies are eyeing a listing – one being Verdant Technologies which is attempting to become the largest hydrogen producer on Australia’s East Coast.
Peak Asset Management is aiming to take Countrywide Renewable Energy – a private hydrogen company public in 2021. It has several partnerships including with energy giant Woodside Energy (ASX:WPL).
However the stocks already on the bourse have big ambitions too and investors are evidently confident.
The average performance in the past 12 months is a gain of 595 per cent and even in the last week a solid 34 per cent.
| Code | Company | Price | %Mth | %Wk | %Yr | MktCap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PRL | Province Resources | 0.21 | 17 | 45 | 2872 | $186.1M |
| PH2 | Pure Hydrogen Corp | 0.265 | -7 | 13 | 342 | $72.7M |
| LIO | Lion Energy Limited | 0.069 | 165 | 82 | 306 | $7.9M |
| QEM | QEM Limited | 0.225 | -2 | 32 | 246 | $23.5M |
| HZR | Hazer Group Limited | 1.2 | -2 | 14 | 223 | $176.6M |
| HXG | Hexagon Energy | 0.12 | 20 | 26 | 97 | $44.8M |
| GEV | Global Ene Ven Ltd | 0.1 | 6 | 25 | 77 | $44.3M |
The newest entrant is Lion Energy (ASX:LIO) which last week announced it was seeking to enter the space and raising $2.8 million to assist these endeavours.
While the company itself admitted it was only potential at this stage, shares rose by over 80 per cent on Friday.
This is only a fraction of its 300 per cent 12 month gain. The company’s traditional focus has been in oil, a commodity hit hard by COVID-19 but on the road to recovery.
The ASX hydrogen stock that is up the most is Province Resources (ASX:PRL) which is up nearly 2900 per cent. After a tough stint as a vanadium explorer it bought a couple of projects in WA’s north west.
The most recent news out of this company was a non-binding MoU with French renewables company Total Eren to perform a feasibility study to see if a green hydrogen project of up to 8GW (and equally owned by Total Eren and Province) could be developed.
Another pivoter is Hexagon Energy Materials (ASX: HXG) which snapped up a project in the Northern Territory earlier this year.
On Friday it formally closed the deal and is eyeing to complete a Pre-Feasibility Study on the project this calendar year.
Global Energy Ventures (ASX:GEV) is a unique player having designed a ship that could carry compressed hydrogen exports.
The company’s last update came in mid-March when it got Approval in Principle (AIP) from the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS). It says it can now progress to the final detailed engineering design and testing to obtain Full Class approval.
Next is Hazer (ASX:HZR) which was for some time the only pure play hydrogen stock on the ASX. It is planning to commission a project in WAS that will provide 100 tonnes of hydrogen.
Shares have retreated from its all time highs in February but it has continued to make progress, most particularly getting the Foreign Investment Review Board’s blessing for AP Venture Fund to chip into the company.
Back to more recent entrants, particularly those pivoting from commodities running cold (vanadium again), and QEM (ASX:QEM) is another which last month announced plans to study “green hydrogen opportunities”.
Since finishing March as one of the ASX’s greatest winners that month, it’s engaged DNV Australia to undertake a pre-feasibility study into power generation from hydrogen as well as from wind and solar at the site.
QEM promises this will be finalised at the end of this quarter and after that more definitive studies will be undertaken.
Rounding out the list is Pure Hydrogen (ASX:PH2) which has gas projects in Queensland’s Surat Basin and in Botswana but is also looking to build a hydrogen business.
At Stockhead, we tell it like it is. While Pure Hydrogen, Hexagon Energy Materials, Verdant Technologies and Sweetman Renewables are Stockhead advertisers, they did not sponsor this article.
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