Norway-based Green inverstment company Saga Pure ASA has committed to subscribe for NOK 30 million (US$3.5 million) in a private placement of new shares in IC Technologies AS (ICT), which is developing a novel storage solution for liquid hydrogen and LNG. Following the private placement, Saga will have an ownership of approximately 33% in the company.
ICT is a company based in Trondheim, Norway, developing new storage and distribution solutions for cryogenic gases, which employs an active cooling solution, potentially eliminating boil-off, as well as enabling a more flexible tank design, and higher capacity utilization.
The ICT design implies significantly lower weight of storage tanks compared to existing solutions. This is particularly an issue for smaller volumes such as air transport, road transport and fuel tanks for high speed passenger ferries.
One of the crucial elements in the hydrogen value chain is storage, distribution and transportation. Liquid hydrogen is the most energy dense form of hydrogen, but current storage solutions for liquid hydrogen are not ideal, as the hydrogen gradually evaporates over time. ICT has developed and patented a new storage solution which involves active cooling, potentially eliminating these losses as well as enabling a more flexible tank design.
We see hydrogen as one of the next big megatrends, and believe the technology being developed by ICT can play an important role in transport and storage of hydrogen on a global scale. The fact that the technology is also highly relevant for storage and distribution of liquid natural gas, opens up interesting near-term market opportunities as well.
—Bjørn Simonsen, CEO of Saga Pure
As part of the private placement, Saga Pure has entered an option agreement which gives Saga the right to further invest NOK 30 million in the company. Completion of the private placement is subject to the success of certain near-term company milestones.
