Pure Hydrogen is advancing its ambition to be a leader in the hydrogen sector by acquiring a 24% stake in fuel cell pioneer H2X Global.
The agreement recognises the value of H2X’s Hydrogen Fuel Cell Hybrid technology, which powers its Warrego ute that is expected to be on sale in the first half of 2022, and will see the two companies establish a joint venture company, Pure X Mobility, that will develop and sell hydrogen fuel cell trucks and buses such as waste disposal trucks and concrete agitators.
Pure Hydrogen (ASX:PH2) is acquiring the stake in H2X through the issue of 8.2 million shares with some escrow conditions and will receive share options that will take its interest up to 48% if exercised.
It will also become the preferred supplier of hydrogen to H2X.
Pure Hydrogen managing director Scott Brown noted that H2X is at the forefront of the ground-breaking innovation that hydrogen represents in the automotive sector given its potential to cut fuel costs by up to 30% compared to diesel.
“Partnering with H2X not only makes good commercial sense but it also puts Pure Hydrogen in the driver’s seat to capitalise on new and evolving hydrogen technology,” he added.
“We believe this will be a good investment opportunity for Pure Hydrogen, we have achieved it with very minimal dilution and we can bring our strong balance sheet and funding channels as a public company to more aggressively fast-track H2X’s commercialisation plans.
“We are also very excited about the prospects for the Pure X Mobility and its planned focus on developing hydrogen fuel cell powered heavy vehicles such as cement mixers and garbage trucks.
“These industries are logical ‘starters’ for Pure X Mobility as they are short run operators where refuelling can be managed at back-to-base locations. Targeting sectors where we can rapidly bring heavy vehicles to market will be Pure X’s focus and makes logical commercial sense.”
H2X chief executive Brendan Norman added that working with an early mover like Pure Hydrogen would not only provide a solid foundation to build its network of customers, it would also align it with a significantly skilled scientific and technical partner to build a solid platform in Australia as a leading force in the rapidly growing global hydrogen economy.
“As technology leaders and innovators with a track record of bringing hydrogen-powered vehicles to market in what is a new and emerging global industry aligns well with Pure Hydrogen’s growth strategy,” Norman noted.
“We have an excellent platform in place to rapidly bring a range of vehicles to market in relatively short order.”
Hydrogen Initiatives
Pure Hydrogen’s investment in H2X is timely given its discussions with a range of large industrial users for back to base operations that are considering using hydrogen trucks.
It has also been working closely with well-known truck and bus manufacturers and is building a hydrogen ecosystem that can provide hydrogen solutions including trucks, buses and work vehicles together with the hydrogen fuel to power these vehicles.
The company noted that its agreement with H2X fast-tracked these negotiations and developments.
It added that it would shortly announce off-take and supply arrangements together with some additional partners to assist in the development and commercialisation of its multifaceted solution.
This comes as hydrogen demand is forecast to increase tenfold to more than 500 million tonnes by 2050.
Transportation is of special interest given that it is one of the largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions globally and has been identified as one of the primary early adopters of hydrogen.
Source: This article has originally appeared on Stockhead.