Turquoise hydrogen developer Monolith has raised more than $300mn in a funding round. The bulk of the investment came from asset managers TPG, Blackrock and Temaset, with investment funds Nextera Energy Resources, SK, Azimuth Capital Management and manufacturer Mitsubishi Heavy Industries America also contributing.

Monolith claims to be the first US manufacturer to use methane pyrolysis at scale to produce what is often referred to as turquoise hydrogen.

Methane pyrolysis directly splits methane into hydrogen and solid carbon, also known as carbon black. Carbon black is a raw material that can be used in the automotive and industrial sectors, principally in tyre manufacturing.

“We are eager to continue Monolith’s growth trajectory” Hanson, Monolith

The funding will be applied towards further R&D and expansion of the company, according to Rob Hanson, co-founder and CEO of Monolith.

“We are eager to continue Monolith’s growth trajectory to support a high energy, low-emission future,” he says.

The technology has far lower and more easily managed lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions associated with it than blue hydrogen, and lower electricity use than green hydrogen, according to Monolith. 

Expanding operations

The company has previously received preliminary approval for a $1bn loan from the US Department of Energy to expand a project in Hallam in the US state of Nebraska, where produces hydrogen and supplies carbon black to tyre company Goodyear and. Monolith expects to use much of the clean hydrogen resulting from the expansion to produce ammonia that will be distributed in the US Corn Belt to agricultural firms, displacing carbon-intensive ammonia production and preventing 1mn t/yr of greenhouse gas emissions.

It has also signed a memorandum of understanding with SK to pursue a joint venture for producing clean hydrogen and carbon black products in South Korea.

The existing investor group—which includes Azimuth and private equity firms Cornell Capital and Warburg Pincus—retains its majority ownership stake in the company following the investment.

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Author: Tom Young