In the first quarter of 2024, Nel increased its revenue by 14%.

This meant that the Norwegian manufacturer of electrolysis plants can report a top line of NOK 387m (EUR 33.2m).

The increase is due to the fact that Nel has renegotiated its 2018 agreement with Nikola. Nel received DKK 60m (EUR 5.1m) in compensation for adjusting the agreement, meaning Nel will also supply the new owner of the Phoenix Hydrogen Hub, Fortescue.

The new Nikola deal includes the supply of 110 alkaline fuel cell stacks and associated equipment and is worth USD 20m.

On the other hand, the top line has been negatively impacted by Nel not achieving a number of major milestones on customer projects.

Nevertheless, Nel can show a significantly improved EBITDA result NOK - 16m (EUR -1.3m) compared to NOK -121m (EUR -10.4m) in the same period last year. 

The loss for the quarter was NOK 22m (EUR 1.9m), which is also a clear improvement from the loss of NOK 192m (EUR 16.5m) in the same period last year.

“Our revenues and EBITDA continue to improve, showing that the business model works with scale,” says Nel’s President and CEO, Håkon Volldal, in connection with the report.

Nel also reports that order intake decreased by 2% to NOK 459m (EUR 39.4m) in the first quarter, while total current orders amount to NOK 2.44bn (EUR 209m). This is a decrease of 1% compared to the end of the preceding quarter, but a decrease of 13% compared to the end of first quarter of 2023.

Nel recently announced that it has received a tax credit of up to USD 41m for a facility in the state of Michigan. 

The deduction comes through the Inflation Reduction Act tax program. In this regard, Nel stated that the company has secured a total of around USD 170m.

“The support we secured this quarter increases the attractiveness of investing and expanding our capacity and capability in the US,” says Volldal.

(Translated using DeepL with additional editing by Catherine Brett)