Electrochaea

Electrochaea closes €36M financing round

Electrochaea's Series D is completed with an additional € 14.9M investment from the EIC Fund

Munich, 07 January 2022

Power-to-gas company Electrochaea announced today a € 14.9M equity investment from the European Innovation Council (EIC) Fund. This investment completes the €36 million Series D round, led by the energy technology company Baker Hughes and existing partners MVP, Storengy (an ENGIE subsidiary), btov, KfW, Energie 360°, Caliza, and Focus First. The purpose of this investment round is to accelerate the scale up and commercialization of Electrochaea’s technology that produces a replacement for fossil natural gas while storing renewable energy and reusing CO2.

The equity funds permit Electrochaea to catalyze the construction of a commercial European project, through direct investment of funds, and to realize the engineering work completed under the €2.5 million award that Electrochaea received in August 2020 from the “EIC Accelerator” program, a part of the EU research and innovation program “Horizon 2020”. The EIC equity investments are made to scale-up game-changing innovative technologies that promote Europe’s goal to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

Electrochaea’s power-to-gas biomethanation technology produces grid-quality renewable methane using CO2 and renewable hydrogen. Renewable methane can replace any use of fossil natural gas, thereby significantly reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, utilizing investment in existing gas distribution and storage infrastructure, and contributing to the transition to a clean energy economy.

“Equity support from the EIC Fund will have a significant impact on Electrochaea’s ability to deliver renewable gas to customers throughout Europe and the world,” said Mich Hein, CEO of Electrochaea. “Technologies that can deliver on net-zero greenhouse emission goals need to be scaled up and brought to the market without delay. Electrochaea´s biomethanation technology, which has been proven in two demonstration plants, one in Denmark and one in Switzerland, is an ideal solution to replace fossil gas with fully renewable gas and to participate in the energy transition.”

“Electrochaea is a great example of how the EIC Fund is supporting the climate tech innovators to bring their technologies to the market and help achieving the Green deal objectives,” added Martin Bruncko, member of the EIC Fund Investment Committee. “This equity financing will support Electrochaea to successfully produce at industrial scale renewable methane that replaces natural gas and can be stored and transported in the existing gas grid.”

About Electrochaea | www.electrochaea.com

Electrochaea delivers a technology to produce renewable methane, a fuel that replaces natural gas, and can be stored and transported in the existing gas grid. Electrochaea’s patented process combats climate change by utilizing CO2, producing a renewable fuel, and providing a solution for long-term storage of intermittent renewable energy. The company is planning to deploy its technology with partners to produce more than 15 billion cubic feet per year of renewable bio-synthetic natural gas by 2025. Industrial-scale pilot plants have operated in the U.S., Switzerland, and Denmark. Electrochaea is headquartered in Munich, Germany, with subsidiaries in Denmark and the U.S.


Baker Hughes invests in Electrochaea

Baker Hughes Invests in Bio-methanation Technology Company Electrochaea to Expand Carbon Utilization Portfolio with Power-to-Gas Solution

  • Electrochaea technology enables CO2 recycling into grid-quality, low carbon synthetic natural gas (SNG),  contributing to decarbonization of hard-to-abate sectors, such as transportation and heating.
  • Baker Hughes will combine its post combustion carbon capture technology with Electrochaea’s bio-methanation technology to develop and commercialize an integrated carbon capture and utilization (CCU) solution.

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June 28, 2021 at 8:00 AM EDT

Baker Hughes (NYSE: BKR), an energy technology company, has announced an investment in Electrochaea, a growth stage company developing novel proprietary bio-methanation technology. Through its investment, Baker Hughes will enhance its broader carbon capture and utilization (CCU) portfolio and provide an integrated solution for customers across the carbon dioxide (CO2) value chain to enable the production of low carbon synthetic natural gas (SNG) from captured CO2 and green hydrogen, helping meet demand for cleaner fuels to advance the energy transition.

The Electrochaea bio-methanation process is an accessible, highly-efficient, scalable and complementary technology to the Baker Hughes CCU portfolio. The two companies will join efforts to accelerate the scale up and industrialization of the technology, and they will develop the commercialization of an innovative integrated carbon capture and utilization solution. Once commercialized, the solution will provide to customers a unique ability to transform CO2 emissions into clean SNG.

Baker Hughes will draw from its portfolio of carbon capture technologies, including its Compact Carbon Capture design, to provide integrated solutions tailored to specific applications utilizing both CO2 sources with biogenic origin, such as biomass and waste-to-energy plants, as well as sources based on combustion of fossil fuels, such as industrial plants.

“The combination of these technologies provides an integrated method to decarbonize hard to abate sectors such as road transportation and heating”, said Rod Christie, executive vice president of Turbomachinery & Process Solutions at Baker Hughes. “This agreement is another deliberate step in our strategy to position Baker Hughes for new energy frontiers like CCU by investing in emerging technologies and combining them with our own proven capabilities. Together, we can develop and scale faster, providing integrated solutions that can effectively decarbonize a range of industries.”

“Delivering synthetic natural gas at grid scale would be a remarkable development for energy consumers,” added Mich Hein, CEO of Electrochaea. “By combining Baker Hughes’ carbon capture technology process with biomethanation, customers could potentially deploy large scale plants to reduce the carbon impact of existing gas infrastructure. We look forward to working with Baker Hughes to scale up this promising new solution.”

SNG is methane that originates from a synthesis process that starts from carbon and hydrogen feedstock. Compared to renewable natural gas (RNG) and bio-methane – which have biological origin – or fossil based natural gas, SNG re-utilizes CO2 that would be otherwise emitted into the atmosphere, thus contributing to significantly mitigating greenhouse gas emissions.

Electrochaea’s technology produces SNG from green hydrogen and CO2 that can come from a variety of sources, such as biogas, fermentation off-gas or captured from single point emitters such as power and industrial plants. SNG can be used for low-carbon heating, transport and industrial applications. In addition, once SNG is injected into existing natural gas pipelines, it can be used as a form of energy storage.

Along with the lead investor Baker Hughes, the existing investors MVP, Storengy (an ENGIE subsidiary), KfW, Caliza, Focus First, Energie 360°, and btov also participated in Electrocheaea’s latest financing round. Baker Hughes will take an approximately 15% stake in Electrochaea to help advance new project development and commercialization. Baker Hughes will also assume a seat on Electrochaea’s Board of Directors.

 

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About Baker Hughes:

Baker Hughes (NYSE: BKR) is an energy technology company that provides solutions to energy and industrial customers worldwide. Built on a century of experience and with operations in over 120 countries, our innovative technologies and services are taking energy forward – making it safer, cleaner and more efficient for people and the planet. Visit us at bakerhughes.com.

About Electrochaea:

Electrochaea delivers a technology to produce renewable methane, a drop-in fuel for natural gas, that can be stored and transported in the existing gas grid. Electrochaea’s patented process addresses the climate challenge by utilizing CO2, producing a renewable fuel, and providing a solution for long-term storage of intermittent renewable energy. The company is planning to deploy its technology with partners to produce more than 15 billion cubic feet per year of renewable SNG by 2025. Industrial-scale pilot plants have operated in the U.S., Switzerland and Denmark. Electrochaea is headquartered in Munich, Germany, with subsidiaries in Denmark and the U.S. Visit us at www.electrochaea.com.


EU Innovation Council invests €17.5 Million in Electrochaea’s Power-to-Methane technology

Electrochaea ́s power-to-gas technology receives funding from the European Innovation Council (EIC), confirming that their market-ready innovations make an important contribution to the goals of the European Green Deal and the UN agenda for sustainable development.
Based on biocatalysis, Electrochaea offers a multiple nationally and internationally patented key power-to-gas technology, which cost-effectively recycles CO2 and at the same time produces CO2-neutral methane from excess electrical energy that can be stored and used as required.

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In total, more than 2,000 European companies applied for the “EIC Accelerator” pilot program. Electrochaea is one of only 64 selected start-ups and medium-sized companies supported bythe Councilwith their projects. The EIC Accelerator program is part of the EU research and innovation program”Horizon2020″. It is aimed at entrepreneurs and SMEs that can apply for grants or mixed financing from grants and equity support. Since this year, around €300 million are available for submissions that promote the European Green Deal. Electrochaea fulfils this requirement in three ways: the long-term storage of renewable energy, production of biomethane, and reduction of the carbon footprint by using CO2 emitted by various industrial sources.

“We are proud to be one of the few selected funding recipients of the EIC. For us, this funding commitment is also a crucial strategic statement,” explains Dr. Doris Hafenbradl, CTO of Electrochaea. “In its rationale, the European Innovation Council confirms for the first time and in all clarity that Europe needs sustainable storage solutions for renewable energy sources and that green gas is indispensable for a sustainable, reliable and comprehensive energy supply”.

The EU funds will be used for the so-called scale-up, the development of the technology from existing pilot plants to commercially scaled plants. With the equity investment, Electrochaea will construct a fully operational 10 to 20 MW plant. The outcome is that customers will benefit: by scaling up and building a sample plant, the risk for commercial projects will be minimized and Electrochaea will be able to offer reliable and highly efficient standardized plants. “The additional financial resources will help us to apply the potential of biological methanation even faster on a commercial scale,” says Hafenbradl. “The European Innovation Council explicitly recognizes the expertise, diversity and motivation of our team as important factors in our success story in constructing industrial pilot plants and forming strategic partnerships with key players”.

Harald Beschid (COO), Doris Hafenbradl (CTO and Managing Director) and Birgit Lewandowski (Director Development) of Electrochaea are pleased about the investment of the European Innovation Council and consider it as a strong political signal. (© Electrochaea GmbH, 2020)