Baker Hughes Pushes Hydrogen From Promise to Power

Baker Hughes’ $13.6B acquisition of Chart Industries signals a deeper shift in the economics and scale of hydrogen energy

27 Oct 2025

Baker Hughes’ $13.6bn acquisition of Chart Industries marks a significant step in the development of the hydrogen economy, underscoring growing confidence that the sector is entering a new phase of industrial maturity.

The agreement, announced this week, will bring together Baker Hughes’ global energy services operations with Chart’s expertise in cryogenic and gas-handling technologies. The combination aims to strengthen Baker Hughes’ position across the hydrogen supply chain, from production to transport and storage.

For years, hydrogen’s promise as a clean fuel source was constrained by fragmented projects, high costs, and limited coordination among developers. The acquisition suggests that those challenges are beginning to ease as the market shifts from small-scale experiments to integrated systems serving industries such as steelmaking, power generation, and data centers.

Three forces appear to be driving the change: growing demand from energy-intensive sectors, investor preference for end-to-end business models, and improved project economics that reward larger-scale operations. Industry analysts said these dynamics are encouraging companies to link production, processing, and distribution assets into unified supply chains.

“By combining Chart’s engineering capabilities with our global reach, we’re positioning Baker Hughes to lead in building the infrastructure for the hydrogen economy,” the company said in a statement.

Analysts noted that the deal reflects a broader trend among energy companies to secure positions in the emerging hydrogen market, where integrated systems can help reduce costs and manage technical risk.

However, the path forward remains uncertain. Policy support, capital intensity, and variable demand could still slow development. Many observers argue that success in the sector will depend less on breakthrough technologies than on the ability to integrate existing ones at scale.

For Baker Hughes, the acquisition is not only a growth move but also a signal that hydrogen is shifting from a speculative technology to a core component of the energy transition. As one analyst put it, the deal “marks hydrogen’s move from concept to infrastructure.”