TECO 2030 ASA from Norway, received a $10 million investment from SunHydrogen.
By creating and constructing Europe’s first gigafactory of hydrogen PEM fuel cell stacks for medium- to heavy-duty trucks and PEM fuel cell modules for maritime applications, TECO 2030 is now accelerating the switch to renewable fuels.
The HyEkoTank, a hydrogen-powered tanker that will try to lead the maritime transport industry in fulfilling climate targets set by the European Union, was recently developed by TECO 2030, Shell, and additional partners with 5 million euros in funding from Horizon Europe.
A new partnership between TECO 2030 and its longtime development partner AVL was also announced earlier this year, under which TECO 2030 will supply fuel cell stacks for AVL’s HyTruck fuel cell system with energy capabilities beyond 300 kW.
Tim Young, CEO of SunHydrogen, stated, “Over the past year, we have investigated many firms in the hydrogen field for strategic investment. “We think TECO 2030’s fuel cell technology, created in collaboration with its development partner AVL, has tremendous potential to dominate the fuel cell market. SunHydrogen is dedicated to supporting the green hydrogen economy in addition to continuing to improve its nanoparticle technology. We are confident that by working with TECO 2030, our businesses will be able to significantly influence a market that is expanding quickly and that Goldman Sachs predicts will be worth $12 trillion by the year 2050.
The $10 million in total strategic investment by SunHydrogen is split into two sections. The first is a $7 million direct investment for 9.3 percent of TECO 2030 in the form of shares. The second is a $3 million convertible note with an interest rate of 8%, which can be converted into 6.1 million shares at a price of 5.08 Norwegian Krone each.
SunHydrogen will choose a director to sit on TECO 2030’s board of directors after the transaction. The two parties agree to seek a prospective corporate merger as part of the investment, and an up-listing onto a US stock exchange will be investigated.
Tore Enger, CEO of TECO 2030, added: “This strategic investment by SunHydrogen will provide us more visibility and a powerful strategic partner in the US which has highly ambitious hydrogen objectives. I am eager to work with SunHydrogen on our objective toward fuel cell projects with zero emissions.”