HydrogenOne Capital Growth plc, a London-listed investment fund, is to invest £8.4M(US$10.2M) in Strohm Holding, which produces thermoplastic composite pipe for green hydrogen produced in offshore windfarms
HydrogenOne is investing alongside Strohm’s existing investors, Shell Ventures, Chevron Technology Ventures and Evonik Venture Capital, in the first close of a funding round totalling £11.8M.
HydrogenOne may also invest up to a further £1.7M in a second funding round later in 2022. This second round is anticipated to be at least £5.1M in aggregate.
Strohm is primarily focused on theoffshore wind-to-hydrogen sector and is developing pipeline solutions whereby green hydrogen generated using renewable energy from offshore wind turbines can be transported to shore.
Strohm’s solution is based on the use of thermoplastic composite pipe (TCP), which is more cost-effective than steel pipe and has 50% lower manufacturing greenhouse gas emissions.
TCP is also a flexible pipe and can be installed offshore easily and quickly, using the same methods as currently used for array cables. The technology can be used to safely transport hydrogen, CO2, ammonia and water, and unlike steel solutions, would not suffer from embrittlement and corrosion.
More than 9 GW of offshore green hydrogen projects have been proposed in the North Sea, all of which will require specialist pipeline solutions at scale.
In December 2021, Strohm signed a memorandum of understanding with Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy regarding offshore production of green hydrogen.
In November 2021, Strohm and Seanovent Engineering signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate on offshore wind-to-hydrogen technology based on the use of TCP.
