H2PRO develops technology to produce green hydrogen - funded by Singapore wealth fund

H2PRO, which develops technology for producing green hydrogen, is currently in the midst of a $ 70 million round of funding. The leading investor in the current round of funding is Temasek, a Singapore-owned holding company that manages the country's wealth fund with $ 283 billion in assets.
In September 2020,  Temasek acquired control of the Rivolis drip irrigation product manufacturer from the Pimi Fund at a company value of $ 456 million. It is estimated that the current round of funding for H2PRO will be based on a company value of $ 250-300 million before the investment.
The current round of funding comes just nine months after H2PRO raised $ 22 million led by the Breakthrough Energy Fund, whose investors include Jeff Bezos, the founder and controlling shareholder of Amazon (-0.82% 3393.39); Jack Ma, one of the founders of Alibaba; And Michael Bloomberg, one of the founders of Bloomberg News, its CEO and former mayor of New York.
H2PRO develops E-TAC technology, designed to separate water into hydrogen and oxygen. The technology is similar to the standard process of electrolysis in that it uses electricity to separate water into hydrogen and oxygen. However, unlike ordinary electrolysis, hydrogen and oxygen are produced separately in different stages: electrochemical stage and chemical stage.
The process developed by H2PRO uses electricity generated from solar energy, and does not involve CO2 emissions. The advantage of this technology is the separation of water into hydrogen and oxygen without greenhouse gas emissions at a price significantly lower than the separation costs of green hydrogen using existing and competing technologies, with 95% efficiency and in a safer way.
Hydrogen is a combustible material whose by-products are heat and water. So far, he creates using two main methods. In the first method, this is done as a reaction between high-pressure steam and carbon molecules, with nickel serving as a catalyst for the process, and natural gas as its heating material.
This process (Steam Methane Reforming) emits greenhouse gases such as carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide, and is therefore environmentally unfriendly. This process is responsible for 95% of the hydrogen produced for industrial uses, such as ammonia production.
In the second method, electrolysis, water is separated into oxygen and hydrogen by electricity. This method has been known for 200 years, and also uses electricity that comes from polluting fuels.
H2PRO CEO Talmon Marco previously said in a press interview that the company would produce 30% more hydrogen per unit of power compared to its competitors. Hydrogen will be refueled in heavy trucks of 13 tons and more, traveling long distances; refueling trains, ships; heating for industry; and industrial feedstocks - some of which account for 15% of global energy consumption. It was developed in the 1960s.
The main challenges of introducing hydrogen as an alternative to fossil fuels, and as an economic alternative to lithium-ion batteries that power most electric vehicles, are lowering its production cost, which is a function of the cost of green energy, and increasing hydrogen production capacity.
H2PRO has set a goal of reaching a production capacity of 500 kg per day by the end of 2022 using a 1-megawatt electrolysis facility, which is placed in a 6-meter container and can fuel 100 vehicles per day. The company was established in 2019 based on technology developed at the Technion in 2012 by Prof. Gideon Garder, Prof. Avner Rothschild and Dr. Chen Dotan.
H2PRO has raised $ 30 million so far, and its investors include OurCrowd, Verizon Ventures, iAngels, Hyundai, Contrarian, Ventures, TPY Capital and Zen (+ 1.04% 87.4) - which invested NIS 4.5 million in the company's first investment round, and signed with it On a strategic partnership agreement that gives it rights to market H2PRO's product in several markets.
Bazan will expand the energy basket it supplies in Israel and the Mediterranean countries, along with fossil fuels, such as diesel, fuel oil and gasoline, which will meet declining demand as countries move toward the renewable energy targets they have set. Zen will provide the start-up with professional guidance and support, and the Zen complex will be a beta site for examining the technology.
H2PRO and Zen also set up a pilot plant for the production of hydrogen in the area of ​​the refineries in Haifa Bay. The renewable energy company Doral (-0.14% 1389) recently reported on a joint venture between it and H2PRO, in which a pilot plant for the production of green hydrogen will be built in Yotvata. The facility will be built after Doral received NIS 3.3 million in funding from the chief scientist at the Ministry of Energy, as part of a call for the production of pilots for storage facilities.