Project finance, Project news, Raising capital

Denver green ammonia firm prepping series C capital raise

A green ammonia developer and technology provider is laying the groundwork for a series C capital raise later this year, and still deliberating on a site for its first project.

February 22, 2023

Starfire Energy, a Denver-based green ammonia producer, is wrapping up a series B capital raise and laying the groundwork for a series C later this year, CEO Joe Beach said in an interview.

The company completed a $6.5m series A in 2021 and finished a $24m series B last year. Investors include Samsung Ventures, AP Ventures, Çalık Enerji, Chevron Technology Ventures, Fund for Sustainability and Energy, IHI Corporation, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Osaka Gas USA, Pavilion Capital and the Rockies Venture Club.

Beach declined to state a target figure for the upcoming raise. The firm has not used a financial advisor to date.

Starfire is currently deliberating on locations for its first production facility to come online in 2026, Beach said. Colorado is a primary contender due to ammonia demand, while the Great Plains offer abundant wind energy.

The firm’s strategy is to use renewable energy and surplus nuclear power from utilities to create ammonia from hydrogen with no storage component, eliminating the problems associated with hydrogen storage and transportation.

Targeted offtake industries include agriculture, maritime shipping and peaking power fuel consumption.

“The demand is global,” Beach said, stating that he expects about 150 leads to convert to MOUs. “We get inbound interest every week.”

For future capital raising, Beach said the company could take on purely financial investors, as it already has a long list of strategic investors.

“The expectation is we will wind up with manufacturing plants around the world,” Beach said.

The “new petroleum”

Many hydrogen production projects have been announced worldwide in the last year.

Beach said he expects many of those to transition into ammonia production projects, as ammonia is much easier to export.

Now, Starfire is working on developing its ammonia cracking technology, which converts ammonia into an ammonia/hydrogen blend at the point of use for chemical processes. The final product form in that process is 70% ammonia, 22.5% hydrogen and 7.5% nitrogen – all free of emissions.

The company is using proceeds of its series B capital raise to develop its Rapid Ramp and Prometheus Fire systems. Rapid Ramp uses a modular system design for the production of green ammonia using air, water, and renewable energy as the sole inputs. Prometheus Fire is an advanced cracking system that converts ammonia into hydrogen, operating at lower temperatures than other crackers and creating cost-effective ammonia-hydrogen blends that can replace natural gas.

The advantage to using this technology is that it makes the export of a hydrogen product financially feasible, Beach said.

“You should see ammonia becoming the new petroleum,” he said of the global industry. Ammonia can be deployed internationally like oil and provide the dependability of coal.

Eventually Starfire will undergo a financial exit, Beach said. Likely that will mean an acquisition, but an IPO is also on the table.

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Innovation, M&A

Amazon invests in green hydrogen companies

Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund is accelerating efforts to decarbonize global operations through green hydrogen.

Amazon’s USD 2bn Climate Pledge Fund is accelerating efforts to decarbonize global operations through green hydrogen.

The Climate Pledge Fund announced new investments in Electric Hydrogen and Sunfire, two U.S. and European-based developers of electrolyzers, a key technology that makes emissions-free green hydrogen using water and renewable electricity, according to a 13 July press release.

“To curb the climate crisis, we need to continually develop innovative solutions that can scale, whether it’s through the electrification of electric vehicles, investments in nature-based solutions, a decarbonized electric grid, or increased production of green hydrogen,” said Kara Hurst, vice president of Worldwide Sustainability at Amazon. “We are proud to be investing in visionary companies like Electric Hydrogen and Sunfire that are developing vital technology for the deployment of green hydrogen to help decarbonize hard-to-abate sectors.”

“Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund is a model for corporate investment in pragmatic climate solutions. We are thrilled to have Amazon as a partner in decarbonizing industries like long-haul freight transport and aviation,” said Raffi Garabedian, CEO of Electric Hydrogen. “Amazon and The Climate Pledge Fund have a clear and expansive vision of the role that green hydrogen will play in decarbonizing their operations. We look forward to collaborating on fossil-free hydrogen projects as we advance toward commercialization.”

“We are proud to welcome Amazon as our investor and look forward to working with a company that has such ambitious climate targets”, said Nils Aldag, CEO of Sunfire. “Green hydrogen is urgently needed to decarbonize and to secure energy supply without fossil fuels. Since 2010, Sunfire has been leading the way in this field. With a unique electrolyzer portfolio and a team of 400 specialists, Sunfire today is one of the few companies capable of providing hydrogen-producing systems on an industrial scale. With Amazon’s help, we want to further scale up our production capacity.”

The Climate Pledge Fund is investing in visionary companies across industries, including transportation and logistics, energy generation, storage and utilization, manufacturing and materials, circular economy, and food and agriculture.

Amazon has now invested in 18 companies, including Rivian, Redwood Materials, Turntide, CarbonCure, Pachama, Infinium, ZeroAvia, BETA Technologies, ION Energy, CMC, Resilient Power, Hippo Harvest, Amogy, Ambient Photonics, Brimstone, Verne, and now Electric Hydrogen and Sunfire. These companies are advancing technologies and business solutions that can help Amazon and others reach net-zero carbon by 2040.

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August 1, 2022

Innovation, Raising capital

Sustainable glass container producer raises $230m

A sustainable glass container producer has raised capital from Orion Infrastructure Capital and other institutional investors for a new facility that would use green hydrogen.

Glass container manufacturer Arglass has secured over $230m in capital to build a second furnace on its campus in Valdosta, Georgia. Arglass raised a combination of structured equity and debt to finance the construction, according to a news release.

Projected to be completed in Q2 2025, the new facility is expected to be capable of producing over 350 million sustainable glass containers annually. This state-of-the-art manufacturing plant will embody the future of glass with a fully integrated production network, driven by AI-integrated real-time data monitoring, predictive modeling and fully automated closed-loop production and quality assurance systems. These advances will allow the new facility to produce up to eight different glass container types simultaneously for maximum flexibility, enabling smaller production runs, faster reaction to market demands, lower inventory levels and reduced investment in molds.

These cutting-edge capabilities are planned to be backed by some of the most extensive sustainability infrastructure of any glass manufacturing plant in the world. The plant is expected to be powered by a hybrid gas, electric and hydrogen oxy-fuel furnace capable of melting 490 metric tons of glass per day. An additional five megawatts of power will be provided by a solar power installation.

“Our new furnace will aim to further establish Arglass as the most innovative, flexible and sustainable glass manufacturer in North America,” said Arglass Chairman and CEO José de Diego Arozamena. “Glass is already the most sustainable, recyclable and healthy packaging material, and the only packaging material classified as ‘generally recognized as safe’ by the FDA. I am incredibly proud to be leading the industry to new heights in sustainability.”

Other sustainability measures include the use of green hydrogen to reduce CO2 emissions, a closed-loop water system to minimize industrial waste and an on-site post-consumer glass recycling plant. The recycling plant will provide post-consumer glass cullet for use in the production of new containers. Arglass also produces glass using its proprietary Arglass Biogenic® glass composition, which replaces traditionally mined material with a naturally renewing, carbon-negative biogenic component gently harvested from the ocean.

“In addition to the industry advancements this new facility will create, we also Intend to bring 150 new jobs to the Valdosta area,” said Tony Krznâr, Arglass vice president of operations. “I look forward to working with the community at large to keep integrating with the beautiful tapestry of Georgia.”

The construction, which is expected to begin as soon as possible, will be supported by the Valdosta Lowndes Development Authority and the Georgia Department of Economic Development. Arglass plans to hold a groundbreaking ceremony for the new plant on the company’s campus in Valdosta.

Investment bank Jefferies acted as financial advisor for Arglass. Orion Infrastructure Capital and several other major institutional investors provided funding.

“Our newly formed capital partnership will accelerate Arglass’s innovative growth and transformation of the glass industry in North America while also representing OIC’s continued investment conviction in sustainable domestic packaging infrastructure,” said Chris Leary, investment partner and head of infra equity at OIC.

February 7, 2024

Project finance, Project news, Raising capital

Plug Power cuts near-term hydrogen production forecast, nixes two projects

In a presentation, a company executive said Plug Power was still on track to meet its production targets by the end of 2023.

Plug Power has cut its hydrogen production forecast for this year after cancelling plans for two plants and experiencing permitting delays at a third project.

New York-based Plug will be able to produce roughly 50 tons of green hydrogen per day by year end, compared to an earlier company forecast of 70 tons, Chief Strategy Officer Sanjay Shrestha said Wednesday during a presentation at Plug’s annual symposium.

The company experienced delays for a substation permit at its 45-ton plant in New York, setting the project back by about 12 months. Plug also explored but decided not to pursue two 30-ton-per-day projects, one in Canada and one in Pennsylvania, Shrestha said.

Shares in the Nasdaq-listed company declined more than 13% since Wednesday’s open, trading today at $16.40 per share and a $9.49bn market cap.

Meanwhile, Plug is focused on commissioning its first 15-ton-per-day liquid hydrogen plant in Georgia, and is expanding production at its Tennessee plant from 10 tons of liquid hydrogen to 15 tons, Shrestha said.

“We want to make sure that we’re being really, really prudent about capital allocation as we’re building this network, and not just focus on 50 versus 70 as a number,” he said.

Shrestha added that Plug is still on track to be commissioned for 200 tons per day of production by the end of 2023, and 500 tons per day by 2025.

To reach 200 tons per day, Plus is planning to expand its New York plant to 75 tons per day, and is breaking ground on a plant in Texas that will produce 45 tons per day. The company also has an option to expand its Georgia facility to 45 tons from 15 tons currently.

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Multiplier effect

The approval of the Inflation Reduction Act in the US “makes green hydrogen economical versus every single form of grey hydrogen in the market today – period,” Shrestha said, including for refining, for green ammonia, and for methanol. “That is already a 25,000-tons-per-day opportunity.”

The IRA will also lead to major capital formation in hydrogen, potentially steering Plug and others to fund projects with around 30% of equity capital while leveraging the remaining project costs. Plug has been funding projects with 100% equity capital.

With the production tax credit in the IRA, “you will at least get a 4x – 5x multiplier on the equity capital,” he said, allowing Plug to use equity capital to pursue additional projects.

“This will follow a similar pattern to what you have seen in the solar and wind industry in the last decade,” Shrestha said.

October 21, 2022

exclusive

Innovation, Raising capital

Electrolysis start-up seeking seed money

A two-man hydrogen electrolysis and storage startup based in the southeastern US is seeking an equity investment from a strategic or venture capital investor.

Green Fuel, an early-stage hydrogen technology start-up, is seeking USD 2m in seed money from a strategic or venture capital investor to get its technology off the ground, CFO William Green said in an interview.

The Alabama LLC is comprised of the two founders: Green and inventor Gordon Marsh. Green is based in Missouri.

A patented electrolysis and storage tank system (200 psi) is currently being used for grilling on site of storage, Green said. That prototype application could be scaled up, but the company is interested in pursuing licensing applications in HVAC, fuel cell vehicles, and methanol production.

Green Fuel said in a news release that the atmospheric pressuring system can reduce the cost of hydrogen by 60% by eliminating the need for transportation and compression.

The technology can be scaled to on-site production and tank storage of between 5,000 psi and 10,000 psi, Green said. Proving out that use case is part of the investment need.

“This is a real world solution,” Green said of the invention, which addresses problems in hydrogen transportation and storage. The company is also presenting its technology to the military.

May 25, 2023

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M&A, Project finance, Project news, Raising capital

Pennsylvania blue hydrogen DevCo planning project equity raise

A natural gas company has tapped an advisor and is planning to launch a process to raise project equity in the fall for a blue hydrogen production facility with contracted offtake in Pennsylvania.

KeyState Energy, a Pennsylvania-based development company, has engaged a financial advisor to launch a $60m equity process in September, according to two sources familiar with the matter.

Young America Capital is advising on the forthcoming process, the sources said.

The capital raise is for the company’s marquee Natural Gas Synthesis blue hydrogen project in Clinton County, one of the sources said. CapEx for the project is estimated at $1.5bn. OCGI is a pre-FEED investor in the project and the coming equity raise is meant to attract a FEED investor.

The 200 mtpd project has contracted offtake with Nikola Corporation, one of the sources said. In October it was reported that Nikola and KeyState were working towards a definitive agreement to expand the hydrogen supply for Nikola’s zero-emissions heavy-duty fuel cell electric vehicles.

The 7,000-acre natural gas and geologic storage site was formerly known for coal, iron and rail, according to the company’s website.

KeyState Energy did not respond to a request for comment. YAC declined to comment.

June 20, 2023

Innovation, Project finance, Project news, Raising capital

Exclusive: TransGas CEO talks mega ammonia project

The owners of a proposed colossal ammonia production facility in Appalachian coal country are in the beginning stages of seeking liquidity, EPC contracting, and advisory services for a project they say will ultimately be financed akin to an LNG export terminal.

It’s an appeal often made in modern US politics – doing right by those left behind.

Perhaps no place is more emblematic of that appeal than West Virginia, and perhaps no region in that state more so than the southern coal fields. It’s there a fossil developer is proposing the architecture of the ruling coal industry be used to build a $10bn decarbonized ammonia facility and is gathering the resources to do so.

“It’s world class, and it makes southern West Virginia, Mingo County, the catalyst for the 21^st century’s energy revival,” said Adam Victor, the CEO of TransGas Development Systems, the developer of the project. “The people [here] are the heirs and descendants of the people that mined the coal that built the steel that built the Panama Canal.”

The Adams Fork Energy project in Mingo County, jointly developed by TransGas and the Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe, is slated to reach commercial operations in 2027. Six identical 6,000 mtpd ammonia manufacturing plants are being planned on the site of a previously permitted (but not constructed) coal-to-gasoline facility.

ReSource exclusively reported this week that the state has issued a permit to construct the facility. TransGas owns 100% of the project now, though if the Tribe comes through with federal funding then it will become the majority owner.

TransGas itself could take on a liquidity partner to raise up to $20m in development capital for the project, Victor said. The company is not using a financial advisor now but will hire one in the future.

White & Case is TransGas’ legal advisor. The company is in discussions with Ansaldo Energia, of Italy, about construction.

“The project is not averse to talking to private equity or investment bankers, because nothing has been decided right now,” Victor said, noting that the company is just beginning talks with infra funds and is eager to do so. “The project will be looking for an EPC.”

The first of the six plants will cost about $2bn, but each one will get successively less expensive, Victor said. Total capex is about $10bn, though there is discussion of acquiring adjacent land to double the size of the project – or 12 plants in all producing 6,000 mtpd each.

TransGas has the support of West Virginia politicians like Sen. Joe Manchin and Gov. Jim Justice, Victor said. Financing the project will be a function of the offtake.

Electricity for data centers, or ammonia for export?

The company is conducting a market analysis to determine avenues for offtake, Victor said. They could do partial electricity generation onsite to power a data center, with the remainder of the hydrogen being used to make ammonia for shipment overseas.

Depending on the needs of offtakers, the facility could also do one or the other entirely, he said.

The project, if configured at current size, could support about 6,000 MW of non-interruptible power generation, 2,000 MW of that for cooling.

“This could basically become a 6,000 MW campus to become the center of data centers in the United States,” Victor said, noting that the region is much less prone to natural disasters than some others and is high enough in elevation to escape any flooding. “I think we could rival Loudoun County [Virginia] as where data centers should be located.”

Adams Fork sits on the largest mine pool reservoir in the eastern US, Victor noted. Data centers need constant cooling, particularly new chip technology that requires liquid cooling.

TransGas will know in a matter of weeks if it’s going to go the electrical route, Victor said. There are only five companies in the world with data centers large enough to efficiently offtake from it: Amazon, Microsoft, Google, Meta and Apple.

If not, the facility will continue down the path of selling the decarbonized ammonia, likely to an oil company or international ammonia buyer like JERA in Japan.

Partnering with a tech company will make it easier to finance the project because of high credit ratings, Victor said. International pressure on oil companies could affect those credit ratings.

“We think the investor world could be split,” he said, noting tech and fuels investors could both be interested in the project. “You’re doubling the universe of investors and offtakers.”

He added: “Once we have the offtake, we think we could have a groundbreaking this year.”

Two ways of shipping

For ammonia production the facility could use the same shipping channels the coal industry uses – either to the Big Sandy River to be sent by barge on the Ohio to New Orleans, or rail to ports in Baltimore; Norfolk, Virginia; and Savanna, Georgia.

By rail, two 40-car trains per day would take ammonia to port. Norfolk Southern and CSX both operate in the region.

Another option is to have a fleet of 50 EV or hydrogen-powered trucks to transport ammonia to the Big Sandy where electric-powered barges can take it to the Gulf, Victor said. That latter option could mean a lower CI score because it will eliminate rail’s diesel power.

Mercedes-Benz and Volvo both make the kind of trucks used for this work in Europe and Asia, he said. Coal mines in the region use diesel trucks in fleets as numerous as 500, and the original TransGas coal plant was permitted for 250 trucks per day.

“This is something that our offtake partner is going to determine,” he said. Japan would likely want the ammonia in the Gulf of Mexico, whereas European shipping companies would want it on an Atlantic port.

The LNG financial model

The offtakers themselves could fund the facility, Victor said.

“The financial model for this is the financial model for funding LNG terminals,” he said. “The same teams that put those large facilities together, financial teams, would be the same teams that we’re talking to now.”

The offtakers may also dictate who they want to be the financial advisor, he said.

April 11, 2024