A plant-gate price is the cost or selling price of a product at the production facility before the expenses of moving it to a customer. In hydrogen analysis, it helps separate the economics of making the gas from the economics of supplying it elsewhere.
For example, a producer may quote a low cost per kilogram at its electrolyser site. A buyer in another city must also pay for compression or liquefaction, storage, trailers or pipelines, handling losses and local distribution. Those costs can be substantial relative to the original production price.
Published comparisons are not always consistent. One estimate may include financing, electricity and maintenance while another excludes them; some describe a levelized cost rather than an actual contracted selling price. The label plant gate alone does not fix every accounting assumption.
Before using a price in an article or business case, identify its currency and year, the facility location, the cost method and the exact delivery boundary. Do not compare a plant-gate price directly with a delivered customer price.