Alberta hydrogen developer secures additional funds
Alberta-based Aurora Hydrogen said August 1 it had secured C$10mn (US$7.8mn) in a Series A funding round led by Energy Innovation Capital and building on funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) received earlier this year.
Participating investors in the Series A financing included Williams, Shell Ventures, Chevron Technology Ventures and the George Kaiser Family Foundation.
Aurora is working to scale its proprietary microwave pyrolysis technology that produces hydrogen and solid carbon from natural gas without using water or generating CO2 emissions. Production from the technology has the potential to reduce global CO2 emissions by more than 900mn metric tons/year using 80% less electricity than conventional electrolysis technologies that rely on water for feedstock.
“At Aurora, we are producing low-cost hydrogen at the point of use, at the exact scale required, and without generating any CO2,” CEO Andrew Gillis said. “We use existing energy pipelines and distribution systems to move the energy, then produce hydrogen where it’s needed, eliminating the need for any new costly hydrogen transportation infrastructure.”
The latest funding will be used to build and operate a 200 kg-H2/day demonstration plant for field trials in Edmonton. The technology can unlock new hydrogen markets and applications by providing low-cost hydrogen at the point of use, fast-tracking decarbonisation in heavy transportation, residential and commercial heating and many industrial processes, Aurora said.