HydrogenOne Capital Growth (HGEN) portfolio company Elcogen has announced a strategic investment for €45 million by Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering which is a member of HD Hyundai Group.
The investment by HD Hyundai underscores both the company’s strategy of backing the leading innovators in the hydrogen industry, and its valuation of Elcogen.
HD Hyundai’s investment follows an extensive period of testing the full range of technology available in the market, following which an R&D collaboration agreement was signed with Elcogen in January 2023, which was focused on further testing of Elcogen’s technology and development of systems.
Following this investment, HD Hyundai and Elcogen intends to further strengthen its collaboration with a focus on marine propulsion systems and stationary power generation, based on Elcogen’s proprietary solid oxide fuel cell and green hydrogen production based on Elcogen’s solid oxide electrolyser cell technology. This investment will be used to expand Elcogen’s manufacturing capacity as it continues to build the company’s new factory facility in Tallinn, Estonia, with a manufacturing capacity of up to 360MW to meet increasing demand for its products.
HD Hyundai stated that it have chosen Elcogen’s SOFC and SOEC technology because of:
- the flexibility to produce electrical energy from a variety of fuels such as hydrogen, natural gas, ammonia, methanol, and biofuel;
- the suitability for ship engines and cogeneration, as it is highly energy efficient, and can use waste heat generated from high-temperature operation (600-1000 degrees centigrade); and
- it is considered the most advanced among all fuel cells developed to date.
As at 30 June 2023, HydrogenOne’s investment in Elcogen represented 18% of the company’s NAV.
Dr JJ Traynor, managing partner of HydrogenOne Capital, the company’s investment adviser, commented: “This investment marks an important milestone for one of HydrogenOne’s largest portfolio investments. We are pleased that a substantial industrial investor has joined us in supporting Elcogen, not only providing additional growth capital, but also representing a new strategic partner to collaborate with. HD Hyundai’s investment is a springboard for new growth at Elcogen.”
Chris Nash, chairman of Elcogen, said: “We are delighted to welcome HD Hyundai as a close working partner and now as a shareholder. I believe this is a vote of confidence in our technology from a world leader in industrial innovation and shipbuilding. We look forward to building on this relationship as we continue working together.”
HGEN : Strategic Investment Update for HydrogenOne