On Thursday, U.S.-India headquartered green hydrogen developer Ohmium announced the close of a $45 million Series B Financing today. The round was led by existing investor Fenice Investment Group, with commitments renewed from current major investors alongside new investor, Houston, Texas-based Energy Transition Ventures. Ohmium said it plans to use the funds to quadruple its hydrogen manufacturing capacity from 500 MW annually to approximately two GW annually by the end of 2022.
Ohmium’s business is built around its proprietary modular Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) electrolyzers, which it says provide a safer, modular, more flexible and efficient alternative to customized hydrogen electrolyzers. These electrolyzers can be stacked to significantly reduce installation and maintenance costs while enabling unlimited configurations of deployment sizes. This configuration can also sustain a differential pressure across the membrane without compromise, making them more cost-effective to operate.
“The world has been waiting for cost-effective green hydrogen to usher in the hydrogen economy,” said Ahmad Chatila, of Fenice Investment Group and Chairman of Ohmium International. “Ohmium now has the resources and the manufacturing capacity to make it a reality today for customers worldwide.”
“The market demand for low carbon hydrogen is growing rapidly. Ohmium has the most experienced executive and technical team we’ve come across in this industry in many years, and is running the winning green hydrogen playbook – high volume, low cost, modular manufacturing of PEM electrolyzers to supply the global market,” said Craig Lawrence, Partner at Energy Transition Ventures. “In a world where renewable power costs are cheaper than even the fuel for fossil power, green hydrogen is poised to transform energy and industrial markets.”
“We’re thrilled to be expanding at this critical time. The world is rapidly transitioning away from fossil fuels and towards clean energy–and recent events have only accelerated that move,” Ohmium CEO Arne Ballantine said. “We can no longer tie our economies to unreliable fossil fuels. Green hydrogen will play a critical role in our clean energy future. This funding allows us to expand our manufacturing capacity toward the approximately two GW per year target by the end of this year. Our sales have been growing very rapidly, and increasing the manufacturing capacity is critical to meeting the current and the near-term future demand in the rapidly expanding market.”
As Ohmium notes, hydrogen is an essential element used in steelmaking, fertilizer production, refineries, and many other heavy and light industries. The majority of hydrogen is made from fossil fuels today, making it a heavy carbon polluter. Cost-effective green hydrogen – emission-free hydrogen made from water electrolysis using renewable energy sources – is critical for the world to meet net-zero emission targets.
