ENGIE, through its corporate venture capital arm ENGIE New Ventures, announces its strategic investment in H2SITE. Headquartered in Bilbao, Spain, H2SITE is a spinoff created by Tecnalia research and technology center and Eindhoven University of Technology. It aims at commercializing a membrane reactor based system able to produce high purity hydrogen, on customer’s premises, from various hydrogen carriers such as methane in particular biomethane and ammonia, etc.
The H2SITE technology platform aims at addressing the issue of decentralized production, transport and storage of hydrogen with a compact and cost effective on-site solution, and is based on a one-step industrial process combining membranes in a reactor. This disruptive technology was identified and assessed by ENGIE through diverse collaborative research projects.
In addition to a minority investment in the capital of H2SITE, ENGIE, through its research center ENGIE Lab CRIGEN, has forged a R&D cooperation partnership with Tecnalia and Eindhoven University of Technology to further develop emerging applications of this technology contributing to transition towards carbon neutrality. Indeed, hydrogen is an essential component of the energy transition, that meets many needs such as in mobility, energy storage and industrial applications.
Shankar KRISHNAMOORTHY, Executive Vice President of ENGIE said : “Our investment in H2SITE lies at the heart of the energy transition that ENGIE is leading in particular by fostering and participating in the development of a market for hydrogen. We are pleased with this new research cooperation that will enable to unlock the full potential of a versatile and promising technology, and to scale up sustainable and efficient solutions for industry and mobility needs” Iñaki SAN SEBASTIAN, CEO of Tecnalia said : “H2SITE is the result of deep-tech venture building at pan-European level, combining: breakthrough R&D capabilities at University, Research and Technology Organization and Corporate level with ENGIE’s smart capital together with a top extended entrepreneurial team. Hydrogen is core to Tecnalia´s focus on zero carbon solutions”
ENGIE New Ventures (ENV) is the corporate venture arm of ENGIE, the global energy and services provider. ENGIE is committed to lead the energy revolution, towards a more decarbonized, decentralized and digitized world. ENV is a €180 million investment fund focused on making minority investments in innovative startups. ENV has deployed since 2014 €125 million of capital across 25 investments, in disruptive startups leading energy transition, and active in energy efficiency, renewable energy, energy storage and demand response, mobility and IoT.. ENV’s offices are represented in Paris, San Francisco, Singapore and Tel Aviv. Please visit this website.
TECNALIA is a benchmark Research and Technological Development Center for Europe; with 1,400 experts from 30 different nationalities, focusing on transforming technology into GDP to improve People’s quality of life, by creating business opportunities for Companies.
Tecnalia Ventures is the venture builder of Tecnalia. It performs a comprehensive management of the life cycle of technological assets, from definition to commercialization. Thus, it maximizes their value and then transfers them to the market through the creation of technology-based companies or sale of industrial property. Since its creation in 2013, Tecnalia Ventures has established itself as a key tool for the valorization of R&D: it has backed 22 companies with a turnover of €33.5m, generating 267 jobs, and owns a portfolio of 116 patent families.
TU/e is a research university specializing in engineering science & technology. Its education, research and knowledge valorization contribute to (i) science for society: solving the major societal issues and boosting prosperity and welfare by focusing on the strategic areas of energy, health and smart mobility, (ii) science for industry: the development of technological innovation in collaboration with industry, and (iii) science for science: progress in engineering sciences through excellence in key research cores and innovation in education.
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