UK entrepreneur sets up hydrogen investment fund
Jo Bamford aims to raise £1bln in effort to boost green hydrogen production and supply.
The capital, which already stands at more than £200m after the first round of investment, will be injected largely into UK businesses, with the focus on speeding up green hydrogen production and supply, creating jobs and contributing to the Government’s net-zero targets.
Bamford says his team had already identified more than 40 firms in the hydrogen space which will be evaluated for investment. 'We have also discovered that investors around the world match the ambitions of global governments in wanting green-focused funds which have a positive impact on climate change,' he explained.
Continuing, Bamford says there are a number of key drivers for the renewed interest in hydrogen - 70% of global GDP is linked to hydrogen country roadmaps; membership of the Hydrogen Council has increased almost five-fold since 2017, and the UK Government has pledged to have 5GW of low-carbon hydrogen production by 2030.
The HYCAP founding team brings together significant hydrogen, manufacturing, financing and fund management expertise, with industry hires collectively having had working knowledge of more than 150 utility-scale renewables projects in more than 12 countries.
Vedra Partners' founder Max Gottschalk, says, 'The fund will be investing across the entire value chain, focusing on production, manufacture and supply, in order to put the UK firmly on the map when it comes to hydrogen.'
When fully deployed, the fund will unlock large-scale long-term job creation and aim to save up to 25% of cities’ transport budget.
