The New Power division at Cummins Inc. probably won’t break even on earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization before 2027. But when it does, it may never look back. One reason is its investment in producing electrolyzers, a critical enabler to making hydrogen fuel for zero-emission long-haul trucking among myriad other uses.

IDTechEx forecasts the water electrolyzer market will grow over the next decade to $120 billion by 2033. By 2025, the firm estimates fivefold growth in electrolyzer manufacturing compared to 2022.

Cummins is far from alone in seeking to advance electrolyzers, devices or systems that use electricity to split water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen, producing hydrogen gas that can  be stored as a compressed gas or liquefied.

Think of electrolyzers as the opposite of a fuel cell, which uses water and electricity to separate hydrogen and oxygen, creating water vapor as the only emission. In an electrolyzer, water is pushed through a stack with electricity. That pulls apart hydrogen and oxygen atoms.  <Read more:Cummins sees billions from its hydrogen electrolyzer business>.