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Image credits: HYDROGEN Mem-Tech

HYDROGEN Mem-Tech, a Norwegian hydrogen technology company, has announced that it has raised 170M NOK (approximately €16M) in the latest funding. 

The round was participated by a series of investors, including AP Ventures, Yara Growth Ventures, Shell Ventures, Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures, and SINTEF Venture. 

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The funding will enable the Trondheim-based company to facilitate significant growth in the coming years. The announcement comes a few days after appointing Lars Fredrik Revling as a new CFO in Hydrogen Mem-Tech. 

HYDROGEN Mem-Tech: What you need to know

Hydrogen plays a significant role in the energy transition, a clean alternative to fossil fuels in electricity and heat production. 

Thanks to its versatility, it can also replace fossil fuels in industrial processes (such as coal in the steel industry) and the transport applications (such as the maritime sector). Therefore, hydrogen is now considered to be one of the main drivers of the green shift.

Founded in 2017, HYDROGEN Mem-Tech (HMT) is on a mission to make the green shift happen through its hydrogen separation technology with carbon capture. The company has developed a technology that extracts clean hydrogen from bio and natural gas, while CO2 and other residual gases are captured and can then be utilised or sequestered. 

The company uses a patented technology that uses palladium — a hydrogen selective metal — membrane to separate hydrogen from CO₂ prior to combustion, in a specially designed separator. This makes it possible to both capture CO₂ and produce pure hydrogen in one and the same process.

As per the company’s claims, the separator has no moving parts or chemicals, and its smaller size means it can be used at various sites. 

“The HMT membrane technology builds on more than 20 years of SINTEF research and has been extensively tested and piloted in the field over several years,” says the company. 

HHYDROGEN Mem-Tech also conducts research, together with SINTEF Industry, on the conversion of ammonia into hydrogen with its membrane technology to help solve hydrogen transport-related challenges. 

For starters, SINTEF is one of Europe’s research institutes with multidisciplinary expertise in science and technology.

“We are very happy to be able to partner with this highly respected and professional venture investor group to bring HMT one step closer to commercial success. The technology behind the technology is licensed from SINTEF and our investment in HMT supports our key mandate – Technology for a better society, where we invest in companies with SINTEF based technology,” says Asle Jostein Hovda, Investment Director at SINTEF Venture.

Previous developments

In March 2022, HYDROGEN Mem-Tech announced a partnership with HYDROGENi, a new centre for environment-friendly energy research (FME) dedicated to hydrogen and ammonia. The company has also contributed NOK 2M in investments, expertise, and equipment.

The partnership was announced by the Norwegian Minister of Petroleum and Energy during the Research Council of Norway’s investment of NOK 200M (approximately €20M).

“Hydrogen Mem-Tech is one of the over 50 industrial and academic partners in this eight-year centre and innovation from the centre’s research is expected to be a key driver of the green shift in Norway, as well as create jobs and build expertise,” writes the company. 

The company has also received support from Norwegian public funding agencies. “Hydrogen Mem-Tech has received support from Gassnova, Innovation Norway and the Research Council of Norway in the development of the technology. Through public funding, we have secured important support in commercialising our technology. Now we are currently conducting research into whether the technology can transform ammonia into hydrogen, and thereby help solve a challenge associated with transporting hydrogen. If we succeed, this will represent a solid breakthrough, which can really accelerate the green shift”, says Thomas Reinertsen, CEO of Hydrogen Mem-Tech. 

Investors

Based out of London, AP Ventures invests in pioneering technologies and businesses which aim to solve global challenges such as renewable energy integration, resource scarcity, and a growing population. AP Ventures has been investing in the hydrogen industry since 2013 and is recognised as a leading venture capital fund across this value chain.

Yara Growth Ventures is the corporate venture capital team for Yara International ASA. The team invests in startups and in venture capital funds which sit at the intersection of science and technology in the food and agriculture industry. 

“We believe that this promising technology developed in Norway will contribute to triggering new Norwegian industry and help increase the use of hydrogen and ammonia. This is one of several investments we plan to make in Norway”, says Stian Nygaard, Investment Director at Yara Growth Ventures.

Shell Ventures invests in innovative companies from seed- to late-stage to further the development of solutions and technologies to accelerate the energy and mobility transformation. 

“As a company, we have the ambition to accelerate the hydrogen economy. HMT’s technology enables the adoption of hydrogen and ammonia and fuels the progress society needs for a cleaner energy future. We are excited to help them take the next steps and explore the many potential applications across industries”, says Bilal Ahmad, Venture Principal at Shell Ventures.

For Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures this investment into HMT is very strategic. Hydrogen and carbon capture technologies are of the highest importance to Aramco, and we look forward to working with HMT to use their unique gas separation membranes and realising the benefits they bring”, says Richard Riggs, Investment Director at Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures.