Ekona Power

Ekona Power is a Canadian developer of low-carbon hydrogen technology based on thermal pyrolysis of methane. Natural gas is converted into hydrogen and solid carbon, which significantly reduces CO2 emissions to the atmosphere.

History

2022: Investment attraction from Severstal Ventures

On February 1, 2022, Severstal announced its investment in Ekona Power. The volume of investments of Severstal Ventures and the share of the venture capital fund of the Russian company in the startup are not disclosed.

Ilya Pavlov, Head of Hydrogen and Innovative Decarbonization at Severstal, Managing Director of Severstal Ventures Corporate Venture Fund, commenting on the provision of financing to Ekona Power, noted that companies that develop and commercialize breakthrough technologies for the production of low-carbon hydrogen attract excitement. The production of hydrogen by the method of methane pyrolysis has a great future, he added.

Severstal Venture Fund Invests in Canadian Hydrogen Technology Developer

Decarbonization is strategically important for the modern steel industry. The long-term competitive advantage in this area depends on investments in advanced methods of steel production. The revolutionary technology of Ekona Power will solve the problems of reducing CO2 emissions into the atmosphere not only of Severstal, but also of the entire industry, "said Andrei Laptev, Director of Business Development and Corporate Venture Projects of Severstal.

Severstal emphasizes that in the steel industry, the potential to reduce CO2 emissions through the use of hydrogen is one of the highest among all industries with a high CO2 emission intensity. At the same time, hydrogen should have a low carbon footprint and be cheap to produce so that its use does not impose an additional significant burden on the cost of steel. Hydrogen, which will be produced using Ekona Power technology, meets these requirements, the Russian company added. It is assumed that Ekona Power plants will be able to produce up to 100 thousand tons of hydrogen per year at a price of less than $1.5 per kg.^[1]

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