Reducing the costs of producing green hydrogen, to create viable green energy

The story of B.Spkl
B.Spkl originated from within the NZ research institute GNS, where the use of ion-beam implantation had been shown to significantly reduce the quantity of rare materials required to produce high-performance catalysts.

Hydrogen is seen as an important part of the future of clean energy, but one of the biggest challenges is how it is produced at scale.

A key material used in hydrogen production is iridium, one of the rarest metals on Earth. It’s needed for the catalysts that help produce hydrogen efficiently. However, because iridium is so scarce and demand has increased, its price has risen significantly, making hydrogen production more expensive and harder to scale up.

The solution
B.Spkl’s novel method creates significant cost savings in the production of electrolysers, which enabled more cost-effective production of Hydrogen and reduced environmental impact from the mining of raw materials.

Our view is that this is a key component in accelerating the wider adoption of Green Hydrogen.

The investment case
We see substantial potential in the B.Spkl team, which combines technical expertise with commercial know-how. With funding secured, the company is now scaling and optimising its membrane manufacturing processes and exploring collaborations with strategic partners.