Provaris raises A$1.5 million to advance hydrogen and CO2 initiatives in Europe

Australian energy company Provaris has secured A$1.5 million (around US$985,000) via a share placement to support its priority business developments related to hydrogen and CO2 projects in Europe.

The funding, raised through a well-subscribed placement supported by existing and new institutional and corporate investors, will also be applied for Provaris’ future restart of its prototype tank program.

In addition to attracting interest from a new Australian institution and international corporate investors, the placement was supported by the company’s directors who have subscribed for shares totaling A$125,000.

The placement will comprise the issue of 75 million new fully paid ordinary shares at an issue price of A$0.02 per share, which represents a 5% discount to the last trade and a 10% discount to the 30-day Volume Weighted Average Price as at November 1, 2024.

As disclosed, the placement will settle in one tranche with the new shares to be issued under the company’s existing ASX Listing Rules 7.1 and 7.1A placement capacity, with settlement expected to occur on November 12, 2024.

Provaris Managing Director and CEO, Martin Carolan, commented: “The Company is delighted with cornerstone support from a new Australian institution and international corporate investor in the Placement, and we also thank the ongoing support from existing major shareholders.

“Provaris continues to advance the commercial and technical steps required for compressed hydrogen to be recognised as an enabler for regional production, storage and transport of bulk-scale hydrogen into North West Europe, addressing the industry challenges of cost, complexity and efficiency.

The recognition of our unique and proprietary solutions for storage and marine transport of gases is also creating early stage commercial pathways in the established CO₂ shipping sector where the introduction of higher-volume CO₂ tanks and ships can reduce the storage and shipping costs.”

In partnership with Norwegian Hydrogen and Uniper Global Commodities, Provaris is working on the development of hydrogen supply chains from Norway and other potential Nordic sites to import locations in North-Western Europe using its H2Neo carriers.

At the beginning of April 2024, Provaris agreed with Global Energy Storage (GES) to develop a gaseous hydrogen import facility at the GES terminal in the Rotterdam port.

The company also recently teamed up with Yinson Production, an independent owner and operator of floating, production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) vessels, to assess the viability of adapting Provaris’ proprietary tank design for compressed hydrogen to develop alternatives for bulk-scale storage and transport of compressed and liquid CO2 (CO2 Tanks).