British multinational Ineos Energy has given a vote of confidence to an initial public offering of what is claimed to be the first London-listed fund dedicated to “clean" hydrogen.
Ineos revealed Monday it had agreed to purchase 25 million shares in the forthcoming IPO of HydrogenOne Capital Growth for £25 million ($34.6 million), representing 10% of the target fund raise of £250 million.
HydrogenOne said it intends to “provide access to clean hydrogen through investment in a diversified portfolio of hydrogen and complementary hydrogen focused assets in order to deliver capital growth with a strong ESG (environmental, social and governance) focus”.
HydrogenOne is expected to qualify for the London Stock Exchange’s Green Economy Mark, which recognises companies that derive 50% or more of their total annual revenues from environmental solutions.
In its statement on Monday, Ineos Energy indicated that HydrogenOne would focus on both green hydrogen — made using renewable energy to power electrolysis — and blue hydrogen — produced with steam-reforming processes using fossil fuels combined with carbon capture and storage.
In addition to the shares, Ineos Energy will also have the right to appoint a non-executive director to the board and will also have co-investment rights in projects identified by HydrogenOne as part of its £25 million investment in the fund.
Ineos currently claims to be Europe’s largest hydrogen producer, making roughly 300,000 tonnes per annum of hydrogen — mostly as a co-product from its chemical manufacturing operations.
The company's Inovyn subsidiary is also Europe’s largest existing operator of electrolysis, the critical technology used to make green hydrogen by splitting water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen.
Last year it also launched a "clean hydrogen" business in a bid to accelerate its drive to net zero emissions.
“The Ineos investment in HydrogenOne will help to accelerate and diversify Ineos’ existing clean hydrogen strategy,” said Ineos Energy executive chairman Brian Gilvary.
“It marks the beginning of another substantial and long-term partnership, opening new windows into the clean hydrogen world for Ineos. It presents an important opportunity for our businesses as the market for clean hydrogen unfolds.”
HydrogenOne said Monday it intends to publish a prospectus in connection with the IPO “shortly” and to close the issue by the end of the month.
