(Adds CEO quotes, background)
COPENHAGEN, June 7 (Reuters) - Green Hydrogen Systems, which
makes electrolysers to produce "clean" hydrogen derived from
renewable power, said on Monday it aims to raise $163 million at
its stock debut in Copenhagen this month.
The Danish firm said its initial public offering will be
priced at 40 crowns ($6.54) per share, valuing the company at
about 3 billion Danish crowns.
A.P. Moller Holding, the owner of shipping giant Maersk,
owns 18% of the company and has committed to buy shares worth 37
million crowns. Maersk is aiming to put the world's first vessel
powered by carbon-neutral fuel into operation in 2023.
Hydrogen, the universe's most abundant element, is now
mostly extracted from fossil fuels, emitting carbon dioxide in
the process.
"We expect it will take a good decade before we reach broad
competitiveness in relation to fossil fuels," Chief Executive
Sebastian Koks Andreassen told Reuters.
"Then green hydrogen will become the cheaper alternative to,
for example, diesel or petrol," he added.
Green Hydrogen Systems' current customers include the
world's biggest offshore wind farm developer Orsted
and top wind turbine maker Siemens Gamesa. The firm
is also in dialogue with Maersk.
Electrolysis is required to split water into its components
of hydrogen and oxygen, and doing so cheaply is often described
as the holy grail of green energy transition.
Green Hydrogen Systems has also secured backing from state
pension fund ATP, the Danish growth fund and Nordea.
Its peers include Norway's Nel, British ITM Power
and France's MCPHY.
($1 = 6.1177 Danish crowns)
(Reporting by Stine Jacobsen; Editing by Louise Heavens and Jan
Harvey)
Itm Power (ITM)
