In a world shifting attention towards environmentally cleaner sources of fuel, Hydrogen investment startup Hy24, a joint venture between FiveT Hydrogen and Ardian, has announced the creation of an impact fund with $1.94 billion (€2 billion) in allocations.
The deal, which exceeds initial expectations, marks the beginning of the first and largest infrastructure fund that will invest entirely in the value chain for clean hydrogen.
Hy24 said the fund, which aims to “mobilise up to $19.39 billion of investment capacity over the next six years”, is the world’s first and largest infrastructure fund to invest in the entire clean-hydrogen value chain across Europe, the Americas and Asia.
The fund’s investments so far include participation in a €110m fundraising of H2 MOBILITY Deutschland, the operator of Europe’s largest network of hydrogen stations.
In addition, it has participated in the €200m financing round of Hy2Gen, an operator of production sites for decarbonised hydrogen and its derivatives, with CDPQ as a co-investor. The fund has also acquired a 30 percent stake in Enagás Renovable, a developer of renewable hydrogen projects.
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Pierre-Etienne Franc, co-founder and CEO of Hy24, said: “Hy24, through the Clean H2 Infra Fund, has rapidly gathered an impressive group of industrial and financial leaders committed to moving the hydrogen agenda forward significantly.
“With €2bn of commitments, this fund will spur on the deployment of up to €20bn in assets of strategic value to the industry in the next six years, performing for our investors and helping to decarbonise the global economy. This creates the right support for the new and critical hydrogen policy frameworks in our key geographies,” He added.
The fund’s launch has been supported by founding investors Air Liquide, VINCI Concessions, TotalEnergies, Plug Power, Chart Industries and Baker Hughes. It has since attracted over 50 investors coming from 13 countries, including several large industrial firms, corporations, banks, insurers, and pension funds.
Interest in green hydrogen has been rising across the globe, with a growing wave of investments planned in countries with an abundance of solar and wind.
