Baker Hughes Invests in Lower-Carbon Hydrogen Production
Baker Hughes announced an investment in Ekona Power Inc., a growth stage company developing novel turquoise hydrogen production technology. Through its investment, Baker Hughes will enhance its broader hydrogen and natural gas decarbonization solutions portfolio, further contributing to the energy transition.
Turquoise hydrogen is made from methane using pyrolysis, also known as splitting, or cracking. Ekona’s methane pyrolysis solution uses combustion and high-speed gas dynamics in a reactor to separate feedstock methane into hydrogen and solid carbon, drastically reducing carbon dioxide emissions versus the traditional and prevalent steam methane reforming process. The innovative solution is designed to easily integrate with standard equipment for natural gas and hydrogen applications including carbon separation and hydrogen purification, thus simplifying industrial process integration.
The two companies will join efforts to accelerate the scale up and industrialization of the technology by identifying suitable pilot projects and leveraging Baker Hughes’ leading turbomachinery portfolio as well as established technical expertise in providing modular and scalable solutions for global hydrogen and natural gas projects.
Baker Hughes will take an approximately 20% stake in Ekona to help advance new project development and commercialization. Baker Hughes will also assume a seat on Ekona’s Board of Directors. Fort Capital Partners acted as advisors to Ekona Power. Along with lead investor Baker Hughes, Ekona has been supported by numerous Canadian Federal and Provincial partners, including the BC Innovative Clean Energy (ICE) Fund, National Research Council (NRC), Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) Breakthrough Energy Solutions Canada (BESC) Program, Emissions Reduction Alberta (ERA), the Natural Gas Innovation Fund (NGIF) and Pacific Economic Development Canada. In addition, BDC Capital’s Cleantech Practice invested in 2020 to help fund Ekona’s technology development program.
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