In a boost to Britain’s efforts to transition to sustainable power sources, a number of global business giants have confirmed backing for a key force in the growing hydrogen market.
GeoPura currently supplies a range of major UK businesses and bodies with zero emission energy, offering an alternative to highly polluting fossil fuels. These include the BBC, HS2, Balfour Beatty, and the National Grid.
Now, a group of high profile investors – Barclays Sustainable Impact Capital, GM Ventures, SWEN CP (through its SWEN Impact Fund for Transition 2), and Siemens Energy Ventures have announced a combined £36m of funding for the company.
The revenue will be used to scale up current operations. This means more sustainability driven organisations can plug into supply from Hydrogen Power Units (HPUs – pictured).
A world-first technology, the equipment essentially facilitates temporary, supplementary, off-grid and back-up power from hydrogen, with GeoPura now looking to grow its existing customer base to reach more hard-to-decarbonise areas of the energy system, including electric vehicle charge points.
Overall, it is hoped that GeoPura can deploy a fleet of 3,600 HPUs by 2033. At that level, more than 6m tonnes of CO2 emissions would be saved during the lifetime of the devices. Production would be focused on existing hubs in Nottingham and Newcastle, boosting green jobs in these regions. Meanwhile, new products aimed at tackling smaller and larger power requirements, conceived in response to customer demand, will also be developed.
Experts believe the global energy market could be 25% green hydrogen by 2050 with sufficient investment. If that happens, the sector would be worth a combined $10tn.
‘Green hydrogen is too often seen as a technology that will happen in the future, but GeoPura and our partners are delivering a commercially viable technology, today. The world can’t afford to wait a decade for green fuels to scale – we must act now,’ said Andrew Cunningham, CEO of GeoPura.
‘The need for green hydrogen energy solutions is expanding as a wide range of customers move toward replacing diesel-powered sources,’ added Wade Sheffer, Managing Director, GM Ventures. ‘Our investment in GeoPura demonstrates our focus on scaling breakthrough innovations that can advance sustainability, while supporting GM’s progress toward an all-electric, zero-emissions future. GeoPura’s HPUs and GM’s HYDROTEC fuel cell expertise have the potential to provide better energy solutions across industries.’
Image: GeoPura