Swedish hydrogen fuel cell technology developer PowerCell Sweden AB (PowerCell) has announced that it has sold its holding in the former joint venture company Hyon AS to the green investment company Saga Pure ASA. Instead, PowerCell will establish its own, wholly-owned Norwegian subsidiary as part of a greater focus on the Norwegian market.
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Since it was founded in 2017, the Hyon joint venture has been owned in equal parts by PowerCell and the Norwegian companies Hexagon Composites ASA and Nel ASA.
According to a statement, the development experienced both by PowerCell and the Norwegian hydrogen market since then has made it more attractive for PowerCell to address the Norwegian market directly instead of through a joint venture.
In April this year, PowerCell announced its intention to establish a local presence in the Norwegian market and start the recruitment of a senior sales manager.
In December last year, PowerCell also announced that the company had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Norwegian power utility company Statkraft AS regarding cooperation within energy solutions based on hydrogen and fuel cells.
The establishment of a Norwegian subsidiary will take place partly by using the sales proceeds, the value of which has not been disclosed, that the company received from the sale of Hyon to Norwegian company Saga Pure ASA, a listed green investment company.
Norway is well advanced in the area of hydrogen, making it a more attractive market for us both for the sale of our products and for developing and improving our offering. By establishing our own local subsidiary, we will have significantly more opportunities to achieve this and in light of this the timing is particularly suitable for selling our share of Hyon, said Richard Berkling, CEO of PowerCell Sweden.
Hyon to focus on marine applications
Hyon has a strong position within maritime hydrogen solutions and, according to Saga Pure, will mainly focus on developing hydrogen and bunkering solutions for harbors going forward.
Sustainability is at the top of the agenda within the maritime sector, and hydrogen will play an important role in the future, maritime fuel mix. An entirely new value chain needs to be developed, and a key part of that is transferring hydrogen from the harbors to the vessels. Hyon is currently developing solutions for production and fueling of hydrogen ships and we look forward to be an active part of the further development of these solutions, said Bjørn Simonsen, CEO of Saga Pure.
Saga Pure, Nel, and Norwegian Hydrogen will each have an ownership of 29 percent of Hyon, and key employees will hold the remaining shares. The key employees are Jørn Kristian Lindtvedt, appointed as CEO of the company, and Harald Hansen as Director of Project Development & Commercial.
Lindtvedt and Hansen have previously held key positions in relation to the TechnipFMC led “Deep Purple” project, which focuses on solutions for the offshore production of hydrogen and intermittency management of wind farms by storing the hydrogen subsea.
There is a strong demand for green hydrogen in the near future, and we are developing a robust infrastructure for both heavy road transport and maritime sector. Joining a group of strong partners in bringing Hyon forward as a key solution- and technology provider makes a lot of sense to us, commented Jens Berge, CEO of Norwegian Hydrogen.