Venn Brown sat down with Glenn Corrie, CEO of Hazer Group, to discuss the current state of the business, its revenue model, entering the commercialisation phase, potential market size and partnerships with global tier-1 partners.
Company background: Hazer Group is a technology company that has developed a new low-energy (and therefore lower cost), low-carbon pyrolysis hydrogen production process converting methane feedstock into hydrogen and near-pure graphite. The process uses less energy than the traditional steam methane reforming (SMR) method used across the industry and with no carbon dioxide by-product.
Market size: Globally, the SMR industry processes 100 million tons of hydrogen a year and more than 1 billion tons of annual CO2 emissions. As industries look to reduce their carbon footprint, Hazer’s process is an easy step to at least halve scope one, two and three emissions. Current SMR processes produce eleven tons of CO2 for every ton of hydrogen.
Decarbonisation: The key driver for the shift away from SMR is the need to decarbonise industries. Hazer’s proprietor pyrolysis uses methane (natural gas) and an iron ore catalyst to produce hydrogen and graphite. SMR uses methane and huge volumes of water to produce hydrogen and carbon dioxide. While decarbonisation may be the driver, Hazer’s process is still price competitive, with landed hydrogen less than existing methods.
Commercialisation phase: Hazer has just commissioned its first scale commercial demonstration plant (CDP) and is already working with global giants Fortis, Chubu Electric, Engie and Mitsui to bring three other facilities online. With each facility worth around US$100 million, these plants will make Hazer a US$300 million company over the next three to five years
Ten facilities in ten years: Hazer is targeting ten operating facilities within ten years, a goal that seems conservative given the group’s capital-light model of licencing the technology rather than building and operating the facilities themselves. These ten facilities represent just half a per cent of current global hydrogen demand.
