Fortescue Metals co-leads Series B investments in Chinese electrolyzer maker Hyproof

Australia's Fortescue Metals Group has invested in Chinese electrolyzer membrane manufacturer Hancheng Technology (Hyproof). The company co-led an investment of up to $14 million alongside GL Ventures, a venture capital company that invests mainly in Chinese firms.

Shanghai-based Hyproof focuses on producing fluorine-based film and ion exchange membranes, which are critical for PEM systems. The company plans to use the funds, raised as part of its Series B round, to expand production lines and develop new capacity focused on components for anion exchange membrane (AEM) electrolyzers.

Fortescue could also potentially use Hyproof's PEM solutions in its production lines for its 2 GW electrolyzer facility, which opened in April this year. The 15,000 square-meter plant in Gladstone, Queensland, will produce electrolyzers that are designed in-house by Fortescue's team in Australia and the US, thus supporting the mining company's plans to roll out a series of green hydrogen production projects globally.

Mark Hutchinson, CEO of Fortescue Energy, has said the company's Gladstone PEM electrolyzer production facility would establish it as an original equipment manufacturer (OEM). "Not only are we developing a pipeline of green energy projects, we're also now designing and manufacturing the specialized equipment and technology that will underpin our green hydrogen production projects and that of others," he commented.