Thyssenkrupp is listing its hydrogen subsidiary Nucera on the stock exchange. Before the summer break, there should be a share placement on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, reports the industrial group, which itself wants to remain involved as a shareholder in the long term and hold a majority stake.
However, Thyssenkrupp leaves it open how high that should be in the end. The M-Dax company currently owns 66 percent of the shares, the remaining 34 percent is held by the Italian group Industrie De Nora, which also wants to remain involved with Nucera.
According to the company, it is primarily newly issued ordinary shares from a capital increase that are being offered. At the same time, the existing shareholders are also likely to part with shares. Those involved are hoping for income of around EUR 500 to 600 million from the issue.
This money will then be used to expand the business. “We will secure the growth potential of the market,” announces Nucera CEO Werner Ponikwar.
And indeed, the need is huge. In 2022 there were still around 100 million tons green hydrogen produced and consumed, Ponikwar estimates that the amount will increase sevenfold by 2050. The additional demand will come from many different sectors, explains the expert.
Green prestige projects
As examples he cites the steel industry and refineries, but also energy sectors such as power generation, power storage, building heating, traffic and heavy-duty transport. “Our order books are full and speak a very clear language there,” says Ponikwar.
It is involved in some of the world‘s largest and most important hydrogen projects, including the installation of a two gigawatt electrolysis plant for Air Products in Saudi Arabia, the delivery of a plant for Unigel in Brazil with an initial 60 and later 240 megawatts, a 200-megawatt hydrogen plant for Shell in the port of Rotterdam or as a partner of H2 Green Steel in Sweden, the first large-scale green steelworks in Europe.
According to the preliminary half-year figures for the 2022/2023 financial year, there are currently orders worth 1.4 billion euros on the books. And Nucera expects a number of other projects in the coming months and years.
Sales after six months have almost doubled from 176 million to 306 million euros. And in the medium term, the Dortmund-based company is planning annual sales of up to 950 million euros.
Thyssenkrupp Nucera, which operated under the name Uhde Chlorine Engineers (UCE) until early 2022, claims to be one of the world‘s leading suppliers of electrolysers for the production of green hydrogen. And it plays a key role in the decarbonization of industrial plants and is therefore an important part of the energy transition.
“Water electrolysis connects renewable energy sources to a wide range of industries that would be impossible or very difficult to decarbonize without green hydrogen,” explains Ponikwar. “Our technology supports our customers on their way to climate neutrality.”
An IPO by Nucera has been in the pipeline for some time. The corona pandemic and the Ukraine war have so far thwarted the plans. CFO Arno Pfannschmidt explains that now is the right time with an ever-expanding market for green hydrogen in a stock market environment that has stabilized at the same time.
“Volatility has decreased and the market environment has improved.” Pfannschmidt emphasizes that Nucera is not under any time pressure. “We have a net financial position of 300 million euros which would allow us to wait.”
In view of the tight schedule, it doesn’t look like that at first. Nucera will then invest its proceeds worldwide. “We want to be represented in all important markets,” says Ponikwar, announcing that local production capacities will be set up on practically every continent.
Location America particularly interesting
At the start, however, the focus is initially on Europe and the USA. The so-called Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) makes America particularly interesting massive subsidies for the establishment of green technologies in the USA provides. According to Ponikwar, mainly assembly plants will be built.
The respective electrolysis cells, from which a system with the desired performance is then assembled, come from plants in Germany, Spain and Vietnam. They are produced by contract manufacturers, above all Industrie Di Nora – “under the guidance and control of Thyssenkrupp Nucera”, as they say.
In Germany, individual cells are being created, and at the other two locations, standardized 20-megawatt electrolysis modules called “scalum”.
The origin of Thyssenkrupp Nucera is in the field of chlor-alkali electrolysis. With more than 600 completed projects and 240,000 electrolysis cells produced for over ten gigawatts of installed capacity, the company says it is the market leader.
Building on this expertise, the development and expansion of alkaline water electrolysis (AWE), which produces green hydrogen on an industrial scale, is then based. “By using a standardized, modular approach, large volumes can be produced at low cost,” explains CEO Ponikwar.
The IPO should now attract additional attention. “We want to make Thyssenkrupp Nucera even more visible as a global electrolysis technology leader for green hydrogen,” says Miguel Ángel López Borrego, the new CEO of Thyssenkrupp.
After a few days in office, he is following an announcement made by his predecessor Martina Merz in autumn 2021. The inflow of funds from the capital increase will benefit Thyssenkrupp Nucera directly. His company will remain as a long-term shareholder and accompany the growth strategy.
At the beginning, the business will initially be in deficit. Nucera CFO Pfannschmidt justifies this with the start-up costs for the development of new capacities and further investments in research and development. In 2024/2025, however, the break-even point for the hydrogen business should be reached.
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