(May 6, 2026 - Oslo, Norway) Renewable hydrogen projects have been complex and
costly, often requiring extensive custom engineering, long execution timelines
and significant upfront investment. These challenges have slowed project
development and delayed large-scale deployment. Nel ASA (Nel, OSE: NEL) today
announces the commercial launch of its next-generation pressurized alkaline
electrolyser system, a new technology platform designed to simplify hydrogen
production projects while significantly improving cost, efficiency and
scalability.

Following more than eight years of development and successful full-scale
prototype testing at Nel's Herøya facility in Norway, Nel's next-generation
pressurized alkaline electrolyser system is now ready for commercial deployment.
The solution sets a new cost benchmark for large-scale electrolyser systems, at
a time when many industrial projects have ended up at total system costs
approaching, or even exceeding, USD 3,000 per kW. With this system, Nel enables
an estimated turnkey full-scope cost below USD 1,450 per kW based on a 25 MW
plant, with further cost synergies seenfor larger plants. The estimates are
based on 30 bar pressure delivered hydrogen with 99.99% purity. With this next
-generation pressurized alkaline electrolyser, Nel is fundamentally changing the
cost structure of industrial-scale green hydrogen production.

Watch the product launch video (https://nelhydrogen.com/watch/pressurized
-alkaline-by-nel)

"This is an important step toward making renewable electrolytic hydrogen
simpler, more scalable and more cost-competitive," says Håkon Volldal, President
and CEO of Nel ASA. "As the energy system places increasing emphasis on
resilience, security of supply and flexibility, renewable hydrogen is emerging
as a key enabler - not only for today's industrial hydrogen applications where
we already use hydrogen, but also for long-duration energy storage and
decentralized energy production."

The next-generation pressurized alkaline platform is based on a fully modular,
skid-based design, with factory-assembled and tested units delivered as
standardized products, rather than bespoke projects like we usually see today.
The system itself operates in a 15 bar pressurized configuration, reducing the
need for downstream compression and improving overall energy efficiency. It is
designed for outdoor installation, minimizing civil works and site
infrastructure requirements.

"We have designed this platform for standardisation and industrial scale," says
Marius Løken, Chief Technology Officer of Nel ASA. "Pressurised operation
combined with a modular, factory-built design reduces complexity and improves
efficiency, making the system well suited for repeatable large-scale
deployment."

Together, these features are expected to reduce system CAPEX by 40-60% compared
to solutions available in the market today, shorten project timelines and lower
execution risk, contributing to a significantly improved levelized cost of
hydrogen.

The technology incorporates proprietary production methods and patent-pending
innovations not previously seen in the electrolyser industry, clearly
differentiating Nel from other suppliers of pressurized alkaline systems. The
platform is optimized for real-world operating conditions, delivering improved
in-field energy performance compared with conventional solutions, where nominal
efficiency often fails to translate into large-scale operation.

"Our next-generation pressurized alkaline technology is designed to unlock
business cases that were previously out of reach," says Håkon Volldal. "This
enables customers to move from concept to operation faster, with lower upfront
capital and reduced execution risk."

Today, low-carbon hydrogen already underpins large and growing end-markets,
including ammonia and methanol production, the decarbonisation of refining and
chemical industries, emerging pathways for sustainable aviation fuels (eSAF),
and the production of low-carbon steel. Demand across these sectors is expected
to scale significantly over the coming decade, driven by climate targets,
regulatory frameworks and the need to maintain industrial competitiveness.

At the same time, recent developments in global energy markets have increased
the focus on energy resilience, security of supply and system flexibility. As
power systems transition toward higher shares of variable renewable energy,
hydrogen is increasingly recognised not only as a critical industrial feedstock,
but also as an important flexibility option within the energy system, enabling
improved balancing of supply and demand.

Hydrogen is gaining importance for long-duration energy storage, grid balancing
and decentralised energy production. By enabling renewable electrolytic hydrogen
to be produced closer to end users, dependence on centralised infrastructure can
be reduced, system resilience strengthened and both industrial demand and
broader energy-transition objectives supported. In parallel, defence and
security related applications are emerging as an additional area of strategic
interest, further reinforcing the case for flexible, localised hydrogen
production.

"Customers are increasingly asking for solutions that are simpler to deploy and
easier to finance," says Todd Cartwright, Chief Commercial Officer of Nel ASA.
"Interest is growing across industrial and infrastructure applications,
including resilience-driven use cases such as energy security and
defence-related applications."

Nel's new pressurized alkaline platform is being industrialized following a
final investment decision announced in December 2025, enabling a production
capacity of up to 1 GW per year at Herøya, with a roadmap to scale production up
to 4 GW annually. Industrialization of the platform is supported by a grant of
up to EUR 135 million from the EU Innovation Fund, covering up to 60% of
eligible industrialization costs. The support underscores the strategic
importance of the technology for Europe's clean energy transition and
accelerates time to market.

ENDS


For additional information, please contact:
Kjell Christian Bjørnsen, CFO, +47 917 02?097
Wilhelm Flinder, Head of IR, Communications & Marketing +47 936 11 350

About Nel ASA | www.nelhydrogen.com
Nel has a history tracing back to 1927 and is today a leading pure play hydrogen
technology company with a global presence. The company specializes in PEM and
Alkaline electrolyser technology for production of renewable hydrogen. Nel's
product offerings are key enablers for a green hydrogen economy, making it
possible to decarbonize various industries such as transportation, refining,
steel, and ammonia.