Hydra Energy has received CAD$15 million (USD $12 million) from Just Business to expand beyond pilots and deliver hydrogen-powered trucking, as more North American commercial fleets look to reduce tailpipe emissions and fuel costs.
This funding will help Hydra continue to develop its waste hydrogen capture plant in British Columbia, as well as its fueling infrastructure and conversion kits, in order to make hydrogen transportation a reality today. Hydra has now raised a total of CAD $22 million (USD $17.2 million) through this round of funding.
Hydra could displace the equivalent of 7.1 billion liters (1.9 billion gallons) of diesel per year in Canada alone by replacing 40 percent of diesel with hydrogen. This equates to removing over four million passenger cars from the road each year. Hydra’s flagship HaaS project is set to break ground later this year after extensive on-road testing by professional drivers on commercial routes covering over 200,000 km.
Hydra provides Hydrogen-as-a-Service (HaaS) to truck fleets and commodity haulers, including hydrogen-diesel, dual-injection conversion kits, and green hydrogen fuel, at a fixed discount of 5% off their current diesel costs with no up-front investment. With transportation currently accounting for 24% of global greenhouse gas emissions, trucking being one of the fastest growing sectors, and zero-emission semi-truck advancements slow to commercialize, Hydra aims to create an affordable, low-risk, scalable solution to decarbonize the trucking industry using existing trucks and resources.
Hydra’s plug-and-play dual-injection system injects hydrogen directly into the truck’s air intake, allowing it to pull for both air and hydrogen at the same time. Unlike other hydrogen truck providers, the company provides an end-to-end HaaS solution with long-term fuel contracts at a fixed discount below the cost of diesel for fleet customers. Hydra installs fully removable and reversible hydrogen-diesel co-combustion conversion kits into commercial fleet trucks in a matter of days, requiring no engine block modification.
Hydra also provides free on-site green hydrogen fueling stations to fleet owners. Hydra gets its green hydrogen from waste hydrogen, which is a by-product of various manufacturing processes. Rather than releasing this gas into the atmosphere, Hydra collaborates with trusted partners like Chemtrade to capture it for consumption by its fleet customers. Excess hydrogen that is not used by commercial fleets can be sold to natural gas distributors who want to increase the renewable portion of their natural gas supply at a low cost.
Hydra Energy had previously received seed funding from private investors and government support from the Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC), the Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC-IRAP), and InnovateBC, totaling CAD $7 million (USD $5.2 million).
“One of the most important industries to be decarbonized is transportation,” said David Batstone, Senior Managing Partner and co-founder of Just Business. “We have full confidence in Hydra’s innovative technology and business model, which is why we invested in an early stage company. We believe that improving this traditionally diesel-heavy industry harnesses the potential of clean fuel now and will help pave the world for the hydrogen revolution in the future. It’s the best opportunity we see for commercial fleets to significantly reduce emissions in the near term, without sacrificing any of their truck’s performance or payloads. At the same time, these fleets can reap the economic and environmental benefits in the transportation sector today.”
“Hydrogen is no longer a fuel of the future. This funding brings Hydra closer to having 65 trucks on today’s roads that deliver significant fuel and emissions savings to our early users,” said Badr Abduljawad, Co-Founder and Chief Innovation Officer. “I co-founded Hydra to make low carbon hydrogen adoption scalable through a business model that’s affordable for fleets to implement. We are grateful to our new investor, Just Business, for supporting us in expanding this vision throughout North America.”
“Sustainability is a critical priority for both BCTA and our trucking company members – it’s about doing the right thing for our future generations,” said Dave Earle, President & CEO of the BC Trucking Association. “With Hydra’s conversion kits, we not only see the potential environmental and cost savings benefits for fleet owners but also to demonstrate our sector’s commitment to moving to a green, sustainable transportation future.”
