Dutch start-up bags €40m of EU funds to bring hybrid hydrogen electrolyser-battery to market

The EU’s lending arm, the European Investment Bank (EIB) has agreed to invest €40m ($42m) into Dutch hydrogen-battery technology start-up Battolyser Systems.

The company has developed its technology based on a nickel-iron battery design, which automatically splits water into hydrogen and oxygen when fully charged while still being able to store and discharge electricity.

The hydrogen can then be sold directly to offtakers or stored to provide back-up power to balance out seasonal variation in renewable power generation.

However, at present, the hybrid electrolyser-battery system is yet to be produced commercially — although the company has already started taking orders for 250 units of its 1MW Battolyser, for delivery in 2024.

But this depends on the start-up of its first production lines at a 7,000-square-metre facility in the Rotterdam suburb of Schiedam, which is due to be commissioning by the end of this year and reach 50MW of manufacturing capacity next year.

While Battolyser Systems has another 1GW plant in the works at the Port of Rotterdam, which will be “ready to commence operations in 2025”, the full capacity from that factory is not expected to be on line until 2026.

And while Slee did not disclose current costs of the 1MW battolyser system, he told a briefing at World Hydrogen Week in Rotterdam that the 2-5MW series, which will be available for purchase in 2025, “will be priced equivalent to alkaline systems”.

Battolyser Systems has received the €40m in “venture debt” from the EIB through the InvestEU programme, which is backed by an EU budget guarantee of €26.2bn.

“All the materials used for production of this new product are European,” he said.

The venture debt finance agreement is described by Peeters as “quasi-equity”, in that repayments are based on the company’s performance rather than a set rate over the course of the loan, although no stake has been taken in Battolyser Systems.

However, this type of agreement also presents much a higher risk that the loan will not be fully repaid.

“This is one element where this venture debt instrument is possible... because we have the support of the European Commission. The European Commission provides us with guarantees, and that takes us in a position where we can go where no commercial bank can go,” Peeters added.

Last month, Battolyser Systems received a €2m grant from the EU’s Just Transition Fund, a scheme launched in 2021 with the ambition of supporting green projects and economic recovery in regions likely to be impacted by the transition away from oil & gas.