Technology company Johnson Matthey has secured a £400mn ($530mn) UK government-backed loan to support its push into green hydrogen. The loan is being made by the government’s UK Export Finance agency via its export development guarantee scheme.

The scheme aims to boost exports of key technologies. “Investments in hydrogen technologies will blast domestic energy production higher than ever—securing the future supply of cleaner energy at home and helping us to export abroad,” says UK international trade secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan.

In a separate but simultaneous fundraising action, the firm has issued €315mn ($344mn) of sustainability linked private placement notes. A private placement is a sale of stock shares or bonds to preselected investors and institutions rather than on the open market.

“The financing will help support the significant investment we are making to help create a cleaner, healthier world,” says Johnson Matthey CFO Stephen Oxley.

Pivoting towards hydrogen

The firm has already previously pledged to invest £1bn in clean hydrogen research, development and deployment technologies. The focus on hydrogen comes after the company exited the battery materials sector last year, citing poor returns.

“Investments in hydrogen technologies will blast domestic energy production higher than ever” Trevelyan, UK international trade secretary

The hydrogen spend will consist of capital and R&D investments in blue, green and hydrogen fuel-cell technologies.

In terms of blue hydrogen, the firm’s technology package is part of the UK’s Acorn and Hynet low-carbon cluster proposals, and it is working with other projects in the UK, Europe, South Korea, the US and Canada. It also provides catalysts that are used in the various reactors for converting natural gas to hydrogen.

The firm’s green hydrogen business unit is relatively new, having launched in 2020. It is focused on the development and large-scale manufacture of catalyst-coated membranes used in proton-exchange-membrane and anion-exchange-membrane electrolysers.

Johnson Matthey also manufactures membrane-electrode assemblies, which are used in hydrogen fuel cells, with facilities in the UK and China.

The company has announced several hydrogen projects in recent months, including the launch of its Hycogen technology to enable captured CO₂ and green hydrogen to be converted into sustainable aviation fuel. Last month, it signed a memorandum of understanding with US technology company 8 Rivers Capital to collaborate on commercialising a blue hydrogen production process.

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Author: Stuart Penson