Israel-based H2Pro has closed a US$22m Series A2 financing round, which was led by Breakthrough Energy Ventures (BEV), Breakthrough Energy Ventures Europe (BEV-E), IN Venture and Sumitomo Corporation CVC. Existing investors iAngels, TPY Capital, Contrarian Ventures and Bazan, and new investors Horizons Ventures, New Fortress Energy (NFE) and OurCrowd also participated in the round.
H2Pro is developing a water-splitting device that is expected to reach 95% efficiency (42kwh/kg H2 ) while operating at higher pressure (50 bars or higher) and costing significantly less than an electrolyzer. Coupled with anticipated reductions in the cost of renewable energy, H2Pro claims its technology will enable US$1/kg green hydrogen production at scale, making it the world’s lowest-cost green hydrogen.
H2Pro’s technology, known as E-TAC (Electrochemical – Thermally Activated Chemical), uses electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. However, unlike electrolysis, hydrogen and oxygen are produced in separate steps. This eliminates the need for a costly membrane, enables a simpler construction and significantly reduces power consumption compared with electrolysis.
“Hydrogen is an important part of any plan to reach climate neutrality. It’s already used extensively and is set to play an even larger role in the future as it can replace fossil fuels in many applications, but unlike fossil fuels, it produces no CO2 ,” said H2Pro CEO Talmon Marco. “Unfortunately, hydrogen is produced from fossil fuels today, contributing vast amounts of CO2 emissions. We’ve known how to split water with electricity for over 200 years via electrolysis. Drawing on that expertise, we’ve created a technology with 95% efficiency and lower capex that can significantly accelerate the mainstream adoption of green hydrogen.”