Fuel cell manufacturer Blue World Technologies has announced that the Bill Gates-founded Breakthrough Energy Ventures has entered as an investor alongside Vaekstfonden (The Sovereign Investment Fund of Denmark), DEUTZ AG, and existing investors who invested back in December 2021.
The funds will be used for scaling the fuel cell production as well as investing in the development of methanol-driven fuel cell applications for the maritime sector. As a flexible power solution, the Blue World Technologies system can be used for auxiliary power, for smaller gensets or larger power units in the megawatt range, or for propulsion depending on ship type and customer needs.
In late 2021, Blue World Technologies insourced all the production of the core fuel cell components and is currently in pre-series production. Later this year, the company will launch series production and with further scaling, the company expects to reach a production capacity of 500 MW within a couple of years.
“Maritime shipping is a critical component of our global economy, but it contributes one billion metric tons of carbon emissions each year,” said Carmichael Roberts of Breakthrough Energy Ventures. “We see a real opportunity in bringing methanol fuel cells to the maritime sector as a very promising avenue for reaching net-zero CO2 emission quickly. Blue World Technologies has found a unique way to offer marine transportation operators a climate friendly solution with an attractive total cost of ownership.”
“Maritime transport is considered one of the hard to abate sectors and represents 3-4% of EU’s total CO2 emissions,” said Mariya Gabriel, European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth. “This investment by Breakthrough Energy Ventures-Europe represents a significant step in realising the emission reduction potential and is fully in line with EU’s policy of boosting marine renewable and low-carbon fuels. I’m glad to see Commission’s pilot investment in Breakthrough Energy Ventures-Europe bearing fruit and I welcome further innovative, ground-breaking investments in the near future.”
