The Luxembourg plant manufacturer Paul Wurth has invested 25 million euros in the Dresden startup Sunfire. As the company informs, it wants to use the money and the contacts of the partner 2019 for the first time large projects in attack.
“With our largest round of financing so far, we are setting the course for industrialization of our pilot plant validated technology. We feel every day how interest in our solutions for the energy transition is increasing, “says Sunfire CEO Carl Berninghausen.
Climate neutral fuels
Sunfire uses its technologies to produce climate-neutral fuels and gases for industries that today can hardly do without fossil fuels, such as aviation, heavy goods transport, chemicals or steel production. Green hydrogen is produced on the basis of green electricity in high-temperature electrolysis by using waste heat from, for example, industrial processes.
Salzgitter Flachstahl GmbH is currently using green hydrogen in a pilot project. “With the entry of Paul Wurth, we will become a valuable partner for the energy-intensive industry.” We are taking the logical step towards becoming an industrial company and, in addition to the pure product business, can now also act as a service provider in the project business, according to Berninghausen.
Turning point in the steel industry
For Paul Wurth CEO Georges Rassel, working with Sunfire is “an expression of the strategy to play a leading role in the upcoming transformation of the steel industry towards carbon-free steel production.” Paul Wurth designs and builds for companies including blast furnace facilities and coking plants.
Sunfire investors Inven Capital, Idinvest Partners, Total Energy Ventures and the Sunfire Entrepreneurs Club have also participated in the recent round of financing, according to Sunfire.