Thyssenkrupp’s hydrogen subsidiary, Nucera, got off to a good start on the Frankfurt stock exchange on Friday. At the end of trading, the price of the Dortmund company was EUR 23.52, well above the issue price of EUR 20. Nucera manufactures what are known as electrolysers, in which water is broken down into hydrogen and oxygen. The hydrogen obtained is later used as an energy source.
The boss of the Nucera mother Thyssenkrupp, Miguel Ángel López Borrego, was satisfied. “We achieved our goal and successfully floated our hydrogen business in a challenging capital market environment,” he said. This gives the company sufficient financial leeway to continue growing.
In view of the energy transition and the growing demand for hydrogen, the market is considered to have great potential, but it is also highly competitive. Competitors include Munich-based Siemens Energy, UK-based ITM Power, and US-based Plug Power and Cummins. Half of the 600 employees at Thyssenkrupp Nucera work in Germany, almost all in Dortmund.
Proceeds are to be used to expand the business
The Essen-based parent company had already considered an IPO for Nucera last year, but initially refrained from doing so due to the volatile market conditions. The proceeds from the IPO are to be used to expand business with so-called alkaline water electrolysis (AWE) for the climate-neutral production of hydrogen.
Nucera expects strong growth from the climate-neutral production of hydrogen. During electrolysis, water is split into its components, hydrogen and oxygen, with the help of electricity. If the electricity was previously generated in a climate-neutral manner, for example with wind turbines or solar cells, the hydrogen is called “green”.
Thyssenkrupp Nucera also builds plants for chlor-alkali electrolysis – this area is, so to speak, the conventional bread-and-butter business. The chlorine produced with these systems is used, for example, to purify drinking water or as a base material for chemical companies. While this area is profitable, alkaline water electrolysis is still in the investment phase – this area is expected to post a profit for the first time in the 2024/25 financial year. The Nucera fiscal year always runs until the end of September.
2 gigawatt plant planned in Saudi Arabia
In the first half of the 2022/23 financial year, Nucera achieved sales of EUR 306 million, EUR 130 million more than in the same period of the previous year, the operating result (EBIT) was EUR 13.3 million (same period of the previous year: EUR 7.1 million). The order backlog is large. With the US company Air Product, Nucera wants to install a 2-gigawatt system in Saudi Arabia, the electrolysers come from the German company. At the port of Rotterdam, the Dortmund-based company is working with the Shell energy company to produce green hydrogen and ship it from there.
So far, Thyssenkrupp has held 66 percent and the Italian industrial company De Nora 34 percent. Ownership will change in the future, and 24 percent of the share capital could be in free float. With the issue of new shares, Nucera wants to get money to make the necessary investments. Thyssenkrupp intends to hold a majority stake in Nucera in the future.
