‘Amicable’ settlement reached in legal dispute over licensing deal
CPH2, a green hydrogen technology and manufacturing company, says it has settled a legal action it took against joint venture GHFG Ltd after the firms fell out over a licensing agreement.
In a statement released this morning, Doncaster-based CPH2, which has developed a Membrane-Free Electrolyser (MFE) for the production of hydrogen, explained: “All parties have agreed to settle and resolve matters amicably, with no admission of fault.
“Under the terms of the settlement, the company will not claim nor pay any damages and all legal action will be terminated by both parties.
“As stated on 6 June 2023, the licence agreement with GHFG had already been terminated.”
Jon Duffy, CEO of CPH2, added: “We are pleased to have reached an amicable solution with GHFG.
“Our focus, following the commercialisation of the MFE110, is on the commercial roll-out of the ground-breaking technology as well as delivering the MFE220 through licensing agreements and our own manufacturing in Doncaster.”
GHFG is a joint venture between international renewable independent power producer, Alternus Energy Group Plc and Eric Whelan, CEO of Irish based developer, Soleirtricity.
At the time, a CPH2 spokesman said GHFG had carried out actions which, based on legal advice received by CPH2, constituted a “repudiatory breach” of the licence agreement on the part of GHFG.
Also this morning, CPH2 says it has has entered into a separate licence agreement with Lisheen H2 Energy Park Ltd, which trades under the name Hidrigin.
In addition to signing this agreement, the parties have entered into a sales contract for delivery of a 1MW MFE220 electrolyser unit by CPH2.
The licence agreement grants Hidrigin the right to make up to 2GWs of MFE220 units in Ireland to connect with its own solar energy and wind farms across the world for its own use.
Under the sales contract, Hidrigin will buy a 1MW MFE220 electrolyser from CPH2 with delivery expected in 2025.
Hidrigin will outsource the manufacturing of MFE units to Jones Engineering Manufacturing, a global engineering contractor.
Hidrigin intends to begin the manufacture of its first 1MW MFE220 unit at the Jones Engineering manufacturing facility in County Carlow, Ireland, in 2025.
Duffy said: “Our licence agreement and sales contract with Hidrigin showcases the increasing customer demand for, and belief in, our MFE technology.
“Our goal remains to produce electrolyser capacity of approximately 1GW at CPH2 facilities and 3GW under licence, and today’s announcement gives a good indication of how we will look to achieve that.
“Licensing agreements are a key part of our business model, helping to scale the business globally and accelerate market penetration of our technology by leveraging the resources of competent partners.”
Eric Whelan, CEO of Hidrigin, added: “CPH2’s proven technology is a brilliant low-cost solution to the production of green hydrogen.
“We are excited to be able to use this technology for our projects here in Ireland and across the world, where the opportunity for green hydrogen production together with renewable energy generation is unparalleled.
“We look forward to working with CPH2 and with our expert partners at Jones Engineering to build and deploy our electrolysers.”
