The European Investment Bank has signed a €40 million financing agreement with Dutch scale-up Battolyser Systems. A guarantee from the InvestEU fund backs the loan to the climate-tech company. The financing will allow the company to expand its production facility in Rotterdam to start large-scale production of its combined electricity storage and electrolyzer system. The technology is already being used by a large industrial gas power plant in the Netherlands; commercial commissioning of the technology is scheduled for 2024.
The Battolyser technology provides a fully flexible, efficient, and scalable integrated battery and electrolyzer system: as an electrolyzer, it produces affordable green hydrogen when power prices are favorable. As a battery, it provides clean “reserve power” that can be offered to the market when connected to the grid. This combination helps integrate renewable energy sources such as solar and wind into the “net-zero” energy system of the future.
Scalable solutions
The deal is possible thanks to support from the InvestEU program. This program helps attract investment for EU policy priorities such as the green transition.
Mattijs Slee, CEO of Battolyser Systems, says scalable hydrogen solutions are needed to implement the Green Deal and achieve “net zero” for the entire industry. “Solutions that are sustainable, low cost, deliver real green hydrogen, are aligned with grid capacity and sourced from Europe. Battolyser Systems meets all these requirements.”
Slee said the Battolyser technology is the only hydrogen solution on the market that can cope with fluctuating returns from renewable sources such as wind and solar power. “Thanks to this innovation, large industrial players and SMEs can deploy green hydrogen to decarbonize their business activities, directly contributing to the goals of the European Green Deal.” The InvestEU program, which supports this EIB investment, is expected to attract more than €372 billion in additional investment for EU policy priorities over 2021-2027. The transaction also highlights EIB efforts on behalf of Europe’s advanced manufacturing capacity in net-zero technologies and solutions.
Spin-out from TU Delft
Battolyser Systems’ technology was invented by Prof. Dr. Fokko Mulder and his research group at TU Delft. The system includes an integrated battery and electrolysis system that stores and delivers electricity like a battery and – when fully charged – splits water into hydrogen and oxygen like an electrolyzer. Battolyser Systems was founded in 2018 as a spin-out from Delft University, and after an investment from Koolen Industries in 2020, the company was ready to grow. In 2021, CEO Mattijs Slee was hired as the first employee. Recently, Innovation Industries and Global Cleantech Capital invested in the company, which now employs 75 people and aims to reach 100 full-time employees by the end of 2023.
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