Sunfire secures investment for green hydrogen technology
Published by Sarah Smith,
Assistant Editor
Energy Global,
Sunfire, a company that develops and produces industrial electrolysers, has secured €109 million (US$125 million) of new funding in its Series D round from a consortium of investors led by Lightrock and Planet First Partners, and including Carbon Direct Capital Management, HydrogenOne Capital, and existing shareholders. The new investment will further strengthen Sunfire’s position in the rapidly growing market for green hydrogen technologies.
“Today’s announcement marks the largest equity raise of a green-hydrogen-focused private company anywhere to date. These new funds will allow Sunfire to bring its advanced pressurised alkaline and game-changing solid oxide (SOEC) electrolysis technologies to industrial scale, building the first in a series of production gigafactories, creating both meaningful electrolysis capacity for our customers and attractive returns for our investors,” Nils Aldag, Co-Founder and CEO of Sunfire, said.
Aldag continued: “Our electrolysis technologies are critical for increasing green hydrogen supply that is needed to decarbonise industrial companies at significant scale. Europe is emerging as a global leader in the hydrogen sector, and Sunfire plans to be a frontrunner by providing world-class technology at scale. We will be hiring a large number of additional talented people across all functional areas to fulfil our promise.”
Sunfire recently announced plans to scale its alkaline electrolysis business, building a large-scale electrolyser production site in Germany with an annual manufacturing capacity of 500 MW by 2023 – with a further extension to gigawatt scale already in planning.
Simultaneously, Sunfire will drive the development of its game-changing SOEC electrolysers. SOEC technology is set to change the scale of hydrogen production through both greater efficiency and its unique capability of producing ‘syngas’. Syngas, a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide, can be converted into everything currently produced from fossil crude oil, such as jet fuel, diesel or waxes, but without the harmful emissions that come from using fossil fuel feedstocks.
Comments from Series D investors
“Sunfire’s unique technologies will drive down costs for green hydrogen production, helping to establish a competitive hydrogen value chain and further increasing the range of industries that can economically decarbonise. The many net-zero targets set by businesses and governments cannot be met without a dramatic scaling in green hydrogen production and adoption, which Sunfire will play an integral part in facilitating. We are privileged to be partnering with Nils and the team on this journey, and fulfilling Lightrock’s commitment to a significant and measurable positive climate impact,” Kevin Bone, Partner at Lightrock, said.
Frédéric de Mévius, Managing Partner of Planet First Partners said: “Green hydrogen has tremendous potential to abate at least 10% of global carbon emissions. Sunfire’s breakthrough electrolysis technologies, the scale-up of manufacturing capacities and the overall dynamism its management team is bringing to the market will benefit the ramp-up and use of green hydrogen across industrial and transport applications.”
Andreea Constantinescu, Partner at Planet First Partners, said: “We are excited about Sunfire’s contribution to the European goals of energy sovereignty, reducing dependence on natural gas and other fossil-fuels and creating green jobs. Sunfire’s material and measurable sustainability credentials, its robust and differentiated technology, and its European heritage, mean it lies at the core of our mandate at Planet First Partners.”
“Decarbonising hydrogen is critical to meeting international climate goals,” commented Jonathan Goldberg, CEO & Founder of Carbon Direct. “Paired with renewable energy inputs, Sunfire's electrolysis technologies offer commercially robust green hydrogen solutions. We are excited to support the Sunfire team as they pursue gigawatt scale.”
Simon Hogan, Chairman of HydrogenOne said: “We are delighted to announce the first private capital investment for HydrogenOne. Sunfire is one of just a handful of leading electrolyser suppliers focusing on providing solutions to enable the production of clean hydrogen, in a market that is poised for significant growth in the coming years.”
Goldman Sachs Bank Europe SE served as exclusive financial adviser and placement agent to Sunfire.
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