Hydrogen Industrial Boost
H2SITE Secures Over €42 Million Funding to Accelerate Industrial Hydrogen Deployment
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Spanish hydrogen company H2SITE has closed a second tranche of its Series B funding round, bringing total investment to more than €42 million, according to Financial Post. The new capital comes from the European Innovation Council (EIC) Fund and a private investor, pushing H2SITE into a new phase focused on large-scale industrial projects and global sales.
The EIC Fund is the investment arm of the European Commission. Its entry builds on support H2SITE already received through the EU's EIC Accelerator programme, giving the company a rare combination of public and private backing, Montreal Gazette reported.
From Bilbao Lab to €42 Million Industrial Player
H2SITE was founded in 2019 in Bilbao, Spain, as a spin-off from the Tecnalia research center and Eindhoven University of Technology. It started with a simple but hard problem: hydrogen is nearly impossible to transport cleanly. The company's answer was a membrane reactor made from palladium alloy. This acts like a sieve, letting only hydrogen atoms pass through and delivering 99.9999% pure gas.
In May 2022, H2SITE raised a €12.5 million Series A round led by Breakthrough Energy Ventures, the climate fund backed by Bill Gates, with Equinor Ventures, Engie New Ventures, and Iberdrola joining in. By late 2024, a first closing of the Series B added roughly €30 million. The second closing now pushes the Series B total past €42 million, according to Whitecourt Star.
Membrane Technology Solves the Hydrogen Transport Puzzle
Moving hydrogen is expensive and risky. It leaks through steel pipes and can make metal brittle. The old fix — pressure swing adsorption — uses a lot of energy and needs large equipment. H2SITE's palladium membranes cut the energy needed for hydrogen separation by up to 30% compared to older methods. That difference matters a lot when you are trying to run a factory on clean fuel.
One key use case is ammonia cracking. Ships can carry ammonia more easily than pure hydrogen. But once that ammonia arrives at a port, someone has to split it back into hydrogen. H2SITE's modular reactors can do that job on-site at a factory or terminal, skipping the need for a giant central refinery. CEO Andrés Galnares called the Series B close "a validation of our ability to move from lab-scale efficiency to industrial-scale reliability."
EIC Fund Bets on European Hydrogen Independence
The EIC Fund does not just write cheques. It is designed to keep critical European technology from being sold off to outside buyers. By joining H2SITE's Series B, the Fund gives the company a political seal of approval alongside its cash. Analysts see this as part of a broader EU strategy to build sovereign capability in clean energy hardware, timed to match demand from the EU's Net-Zero Industry Act and its Hydrogen Bank auctions.
Industry analysts at BloombergNEF have noted that most hydrogen funding has gone to electrolyzers — the machines that make hydrogen — while separation and transport tech has been overlooked. H2SITE sits squarely in that gap. The Basque Government has already pointed to H2SITE as a flagship project for its regional Basque Hydrogen Corridor initiative, viewing the company as a pillar of local industrial revival, The Observer reported.
Global Expansion Plans and the Palladium Risk Ahead
H2SITE's Zierbena plant, opened in November 2022, can produce tens of thousands of membrane tubes per year — enough to supply several hundred industrial-scale reactors. The new funding is earmarked for global commercialization, with targets in North America and the Middle East. Total funding across all rounds now exceeds €55 million, counting grants and equity combined, according to Cold Lake Sun.
One risk looms over the growth plan. Palladium is a precious metal with a volatile price. Depending on it for global hydrogen infrastructure could create supply chain pressure similar to what the EV industry faces with lithium and cobalt. How H2SITE manages that dependency as it scales will be a central test of the company's next chapter, Owen Sound Sun Times noted.
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