New Energies, new possibilities

[パリ ２日 ロイター] - 国際エネルギー機関（ＩＥＡ）が２日公表した報告書によれば、直近１２カ月で水素関連事業への投資決定が倍増した。ただ、業界が不確実性に直面する中で、施設の処理能力や需要は低水準にとどまっている。 投資決定の結果、水素生産は２０３０年までに現在の５倍に増える。直近１２カ月の投資決定は、中国がその４０％超を占めた。半面、需要目標は生産計画のわずか２５％超にとどまる。ＩＥＡは、これまでの水素部門の進展が気候変動対策の目標達成に十分ではないとの見方を示した。 また、大半の事業は初期段階にあり、需要の不透明さや資金調達の難しさ、当局による規制の不明確さなどが、事業計画のリスクになっている。 ＩＥＡのビロル事務局長は「政策立案者や開発事業者は、需要創出の支援を行うとともに、コスト減や規制の明確化を目指すべきだ。それがこの部門のさらなる投資拡大につながる」と強調した。 世界的な水素需要は、精製・化学部門を中心に、今年は約３００万トンの増加が予想される。ただ、ＩＥＡによれば、これは政策が成功した結果というよりは、経済的なトレンドの結果だという。

Investment to be made in two equal tranches, with the first targeted to close later this year and the second in 2025; Funds will support certification and commercial production of Joby’s electric air taxi; Investment terms to include plans to establish a manufacturing alliance for the first phase of commercialization; Will bring total investment from Toyota Motor Corporation in Joby to $894 million

Toyota City, Japan, and Santa Cruz, CA--Toyota Motor Corporation (Toyota; NYSE: TM) and Joby Aviation, Inc. (Joby; NYSE:JOBY), a company developing electric air taxis for commercial passenger service, today announced that Toyota will invest an additional $500 million to support the certification and commercial production of Joby’s electric air taxi, with the aim of realizing the two companies’ shared vision of air mobility.

The investment, which will be made in two equal tranches, is subject to standard regulatory approvals and certain other conditions, finalization of collaborative and commercial agreements and, with respect to the second tranche, the finalization of terms related to a strategic alliance focused on commercial manufacturing and certain other conditions. The investment, which will bring Toyota Motor Corporation’s total investment in Joby to $894 million, will be made in the form of cash for common stock, with the first tranche targeted to close later this year and the second in 2025. Further details of the investment are available via the companies’ regulatory filings with the SEC.

“Today’s investment builds on nearly seven years of collaboration between our companies,” said JoeBen Bevirt, founder and CEO, Joby Aviation. “The knowledge and support shared by Toyota has been instrumental in Joby’s success and we look forward to deepening our relationship as we deliver on our shared vision for the future of air travel.”

Joby continues to make important progress towards commercialization, recently rolling its third aircraft off its pilot production line in Marina, California, and breaking ground on an expanded facility in California that will more than double the Company’s manufacturing footprint. In August 2024, it confirmed that the fourth of five stages of the type certification process is now more than one-third complete on the Joby side.

“With this additional investment, we are excited to see Joby certify their aircraft and shift to commercial production,” said Tetsuo “Ted” Ogawa, who signed the agreement as the Operating Officer on behalf of Toyota Motor Corporation. “We share Joby’s view that sustainable flight will be central to alleviating today’s persistent mobility challenges.”

Toyota’s additional investment reflects the continued aim of Toyota Motor Corporation’s founding family, starting with Kiichiro Toyoda down to present-day Chairman Akio Toyoda, to realize the dream of air mobility for personal or daily travel as part of its transformation into a mobility company.

Since 2019, in addition to monetary investments, Toyota has been investing time and human resources to share its knowledge of the Toyota Production System via process planning, manufacturing method development, and tooling design. Toyota engineers now work side-by-side with the Joby team in California, and, in 2023, the two companies signed a long-term agreement for Toyota to supply key powertrain and actuation components for the production of Joby’s aircraft.

Toyota’s relationship with Joby began through an initial investment made by Toyota Ventures, the early-stage venture capital arm of Toyota that explores and identifies disruptive technologies and companies for investment opportunities and provides support for portfolio companies. Toyota Motor Corporation subsequently completed investments totaling $394 million.

The shares to be sold in the investment have not been, and will not be, registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (“Securities Act”), or any state or other applicable jurisdiction’s securities laws, and may not be offered or sold in the United States except pursuant to an effective registration statement or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities Act and applicable state or other jurisdictions’ securities laws. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy these securities, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or other jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to the registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or other jurisdiction.

About Joby

Joby Aviation, Inc. (NYSE:JOBY) is a California-based transportation company developing an all-electric, vertical take-off and landing air taxi which it intends to operate as part of a fast, quiet, and convenient service in cities around the world.

About Toyota

Toyota (NYSE:TM), creator of the Prius hybrid and the Mirai fuel cell vehicle, is committed to building vehicles for the way people live through our Toyota and Lexus brands, and directly employs more than 63,000 people in North America (more than 49,000 in the U.S.).

Over the past 65 years, Toyota has assembled nearly 47 million cars and trucks in North America at the company’s 12 manufacturing plants. By 2025, the company’s 13th plant in North Carolina will begin to manufacture automotive batteries for electrified vehicles.

Through our more than 1,800 North American dealerships (nearly 1,500 in the U.S.), Toyota sold more than 2.6 million cars and trucks (more than 2.2 million in the U.S.) in 2023, of which more than one quarter were electrified vehicles (full battery, hybrid, plug-in hybrid and fuel cell).

Source: Fuel Cells Works

Gradiant, a global solutions provider for advanced water and wastewater treatment, has announced the launch of ProtiumSource, an end-to-end solution that delivers high-purity, electrolyzer-ready water with the lowest energy demand, fully powered by renewable energy.

ProtiumSource is the result of collaboration, combining the recently acquired H+E Group’s decades of ultrapure water expertise with innovation from The Gradiant Labs.

ProtiumSource offers several key features: it is feedwater-agnostic, delivering guaranteed high-purity, electrolyzer-ready water from any feedwater input, including seawater, brackish water, and treated wastewater, making it highly adaptable to operating environments with limited access to high-quality input water. Additionally, it mitigates the challenge of managing brine by recycling all water with the option to produce zero or minimal liquid discharge. The system also claims to offer industry-leading efficiency, utilizing Gradiant’s award-winning RO Infinity with CFRO technology to deliver what the company describes as best-in-class performance with the lowest energy demand, reducing overall capital requirements for renewable energy infrastructure. Furthermore, ProtiumSource is said to ensure the lowest total life cycle costs by providing high-purity source water that exceeds the specified requirements for all electrolyzer systems, extending their usable life and reducing CAPEX, OPEX, and total life cycle costs.

ProtiumSource employs water treatment technologies in a fully integrated, balanced three-phase system that Gradiant tailors to the throughput needs of any green hydrogen production plant. The first step involves water purification, leveraging Gradiant’s Pretreatment, Selective Contaminant Extraction, and RO Infinity technologies to remove a complete range of inorganic and organic contaminants from any feedwater. The second step focuses on electrolyzer-ready source water production, utilizing H+E’s ultrapure water expertise and experience in IX, EDI, and UV technologies to yield electrolyzer-ready water that exceeds industry specifications. The final step incorporates an integrated brine management system for zero liquid discharge, using Gradiant’s RO Infinity with CFRO technology to reclaim water from brine at the pretreatment and high-purity stages.

“Gradiant believes in the promise of a hydrogen-based economy and understands that producing the best possible electrolyzer-ready water is critical for green hydrogen to achieve its full potential,” said Prakash Govindan, COO of Gradiant.  “With the introduction of ProtiumSource, we are removing a major hurdle to making green-hydrogen a fully renewable energy source.”

Siva Kumar Kota, Gradiant’s Head of Technology, added: “Our ProtiumSource solution for green hydrogen producers is testimony to the adaptability of Gradiant’s core technologies to solve key societal challenges. Our patented technology portfolio enables Gradiant to quickly develop revolutionary solutions, like ProtiumSource, to meet the water needs of green hydrogen producers.”

Source: HydrogenTech

Norwegian electrolyser manufacturer Nel has lost out on a massive order for its alkaline models, after a hydrogen start-up that claims to be building the largest off-grid H2 project in the US abruptly cancelled a preliminary supply deal with the firm.

The capacity reservation agreement, signed in April this year, would have seen Nel supply over 1GW of alkaline electrolysers for Hy Stor’s Mississippi Clean Hydrogen Hub (MCHH), which is now facing delays.

In a filing to Norway’s stock exchange yesterday (Monday), Nel reported that its order backlog is unaffected by the cancellation, as the capacity reservation agreement with Hy Stor was never counted as a firm order in its accounting.

The Norwegian company will keep the non-refundable capacity reservation fee from the deal.

The cancellation raises questions about the status of Hy Stor’s MCHH programme, which missed out on funding from the US government's $7bn Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs scheme, despite bidding for $1.2bn in financial support.

Hystor had said that it is moving ahead with the project anyway and in December signed a front-end engineering design contract (FEED) for the project with Nel.

“Of course we would have liked the project to move on," Nel's CEO Håkon Volldal told Hydrogen Insight on the sidelines of World Hydrogen Week in Copenhagen today. “It might still move on, but it’s delayed, and since it’s delayed, it doesn’t make sense to have a capacity reservation agreement in the short term.”

Volldal acknowledged that uncertainty around the US government's green hydrogen rules — the strictest version of which were strongly supported by Hy Stor's CEO Laura Luce — is likely a mitigating factor in the project's difficulties.

“Obviously, that doesn’t help if you want to calculate your business case,” he admitted.

If realised, MCHH would use power directly supplied by on-site wind turbines and solar panels, with tens of thousands of tonnes of H2 stored in up to ten salt caverns across the Southern US state.

This would enable a constant supply of renewable hydrogen to proposed offtaker and Swedish steelmaker SSAB for the production of green steel, and other potential buyers.

Nel gave no indication as to whether its FEED contract for MCHH has been affected by Hy Stor’s cancellation of its capacity reservation agreement.

Nel is planning a 4GW electrolyser plant in Michigan, however it said it would have supplied 500MW of “electrodes” for MCHH from its existing plant in Herøya, Norway, currently under expansion.

Source:HydrogenInsight