£10m investment into clean hydrogen production tech

HydrogenOne Capital Growth has signed definitive agreements for a private equity investment of £10m in HiiROC an innovative supplier of clean hydrogen production technology.

The investment in Hull-based HiiROC forms part of a c. £26 million fundraising round, introducing other new investors including Melrose Industries, Centrica, Hyundai and Kia, alongside existing strategic investors Wintershall Dea and VNG. The deal also gives HydrogenOne the right to a board seat at the company.

HiiROC’s proven technology converts biomethane or natural gas into clean hydrogen and carbon black, through a proprietary electrolysis process using thermal plasma. This results in zero CO2 hydrogen production, known as “turquoise hydrogen”, at a cost comparable to the predominant, but high emission, steam methane reforming process, and only using only one fifth of the energy required by water electrolysis. The solid carbon byproduct, carbon black, has applications ranging from tyres, building materials and as a soil enhancer.

With strong growth potential in a number of hydrogen sectors including grid injection, electricity generation, decarbonising industry replacing natural gas, flare mitigation and synthetic aviation fuel production, HiiROC has recently announced a 400kg/day hydrogen facility in Germany using its technology is due to be operational in 2023.

Simon Hogan, chairman of HydrogenOne said: “We are delighted to invest in HiiROC. As we highlighted ahead of our recent IPO, Turquoise hydrogen is an area of high growth we are interested in, and HiiROC is a leader in this field. We are excited to work with HiiROC’s team and share our experience and expertise.”

Tim Davies, HiiROC’s CEO added: “We welcome HydrogenOne as a sector specialist at this very exciting stage in our development, as we move towards the commercialistion of our leading technology to produce low-cost, zero emission hydrogen, delivered to customers on a modular, scalable basis at the point of demand. HiiROC’s technology is well positioned to contribute to accelerating the transition to the hydrogen economy and its role in achieving Net Zero.”