John Cockerill secures €230 mn for deployment of its electrolyzers strategy

urceJohn Cockerill Hydrogen has recently announced the signing of binding commitments by its strategic partners SLB, SFPIM and Wallonie Entreprendre (WE), two leading Belgian public investment institutions, and international industrial-oriented family offices to participate on a €230 million capital. 

SLB, a global energy technology company, will be acting as lead investor in John Cockerill Hydrogen's capital funding round, targeted for completion by the end of June 2024. This fund raising is considered as a major step to support the company's strategy including the rolling out of giga factories in key locations. 

John Cockerill is investing in expanding its global presence through a multi-local strategy by establishing electrolyzer production and service hubs in the USA, India, and the UAE. Similar investments are being considered in collaboration with major partners, in Morocco and in Vietnam, according to the company. 

"We are thrilled to join forces with SLB in this groundbreaking partnership and to be backed by leading investors with a strong complementarity," said François Michel, CEO of John Cockerill. "Combining our expertise in electrolyzer technology with SLB's global reach and manufacturing and service know-how will further accelerate the adoption of our solutions to produce green hydrogen at scale". 

"Our companies are remarkably complementary and share a strong commitment to technology and to delivering tangible solutions for decarbonization. Getting the support of the Belgian institutions such as SFPIM and WE as well as established industrial players demonstrates the commitment and potential of our project", the CEO added. 

SLB's investment will aid the creation of a strategic partnership between John Cockerill and SLB aimed at accelerating the global development and manufacturing of John Cockerill Hydrogen's next generation pressurized alkaline electrolyzers. 

In conjunction with the creation of Rely, a joint venture between John Cockerill and Technip Energies announced in November last year, these strategic partnerships are designed to reinforce John Cockerill's technological leadership in pressurized alkaline technology which is crucial given the scale of the challenges.

"Access to proven low-carbon hydrogen production technologies is vital for industrials to decarbonize their operations and for our world to meet crucial net-zero targets," said Gavin Rennick, President of SLB's New Energy business. 

"Through this collaboration, we will combine John Cockerill Hydrogen's proven track record in alkaline electrolyzer technology with SLB's research and development, technology industrialization, global market presence and manufacturing capabilities to accelerate deployment of innovative low-carbon hydrogen production technologies worldwide", Rennick added.