Stockholm-based startup H2 Inexperienced Metal has secured assist for the €3.5bn in debt financing it must construct a hydrogen-powered metal plant in northern Sweden. As soon as finalised, it will make the corporate among the finest capitalised local weather tech tasks in Europe.
On Monday, the corporate stated it had signed conditional senior debt agreements with industrial banks BNP Paribas, ING, UniCredit, Societe Generale and KfW IPEX-Financial institution, in addition to the Swedish Export Credit score Company. The agreements are price a mixed €3.3bn.
It additionally has board approval from the European Funding Financial institution for an extra €750m in senior debt funding and a letter of intent for a €500m junior debt facility from a Nordic infrastructure fund. The senior debt is roofed by €2.5bn price of credit score ensures from credit score companies and the Swedish Nationwide Debt Workplace.
Mixed, the commitments are price €4.55bn, greater than the €3.5bn in debt the corporate has stated it wants. The full value of the plant is €5bn, with the remaining funding coming from fairness raises — which it hopes to finish subsequent 12 months, it instructed Sifted.
H2 Inexperienced Metal replaces coking coal — which is utilized in furnaces to supply metal — with renewable power and hydrogen. Metal manufacturing utilizing coal accounts for round 8% of worldwide greenhouse gasoline emissions, in keeping with McKinsey.
Steelmaking is an business by which the problem of decarbonisation is especially tough. Although there are firms engaged on it, direct electrification of the method is tough at current so hydrogen is deemed the simplest approach to inexperienced the business.
H2 Inexperienced Metal’s plant will likely be based mostly in Boden in northern Sweden, and can use inexperienced hydrogen from 2025 onwards. The most recent debt injection means the corporate has an identical degree of capital to Northvolt, Europe’s best-funded local weather startup, which has raised $5.5bn from buyers.
Henrik Henriksson, CEO of H2 Inexperienced Metal, says the deal underlines the enterprise case of the corporate, its debt carrying capability and the willingness of banks and credit score companies to assist local weather initiatives.
The corporate additionally introduced final week that it had raised €260m in fairness, from buyers together with Kinnevik, Hitachi Vitality and Kobe Metal.
Freya Pratty is a reporter at Sifted. She tweets from @FPratty and writes our local weather tech publication — you may join right here.
