Sapphire Technologies closes funding round; Xebec receives grant for electrolyser

Sapphire Technologies has closed its Series A round led by Cooper and Company and joined by Equinor Ventures and Chevron Technology Ventures.

Sapphire Technologies, based in California, develops, produces and sells energy recovery systems for natural gas and hydrogen industrial and commercial applications. Sapphire Technologies is a spin-off from Calnetix Technologies.

The investment capital will be used to scale up the manufacturing and distribution of Sapphire’s energy recovery systems for pressure let-down applications. Sapphire applies these technologies in its FreeSpin™ In-line Turboexpanders (FIT), which offset carbon emissions by converting waste pressure energy into clean and usable electric power.

Freddie Sarhan, CEO of Sapphire, said, “We look forward to working with them to achieve our vision of providing affordable, reliable and clean electricity that will enable the world’s transition to a lower-carbon future.”

Adam Mikkelsen, Principal at Cooper and Company, commented, “Sapphire’s technologies combine zero-carbon electricity with compelling economic returns, and we believe we’ll see widespread adoption within the energy industry.”

Gareth Burns, Head of Equinor Ventures, added, “Equinor’s ambition is to become a net-zero energy company by 2050, and new solutions and technologies will be required for the society at large to meet its climate targets.”

Barbara Burger, VP of Innovation at Chevron, noted, “This is the latest investment from our $300 million Future Energy Fund II, launched in February 2021, which focuses on industrial decarbonisation, emerging mobility, energy, decentralisation and the growing circular carbon economy.”

Meanwhile, in a separate development, Xebec Adsorption Inc has received a research grant to design and manufacture a new type of electrolyser system. Under the ECO2Fuel consortium, the total approved budget of €20.1 million will be shared among partners to execute the project which aims to convert captured CO2 and water with renewable electricity into sustainable liquid fuels. Xebec will design and build the industrial size 1 MW-class system that will integrate technologies from other consortium partners, including De Nora, RWE Power, DLR, VITO, and Ariema.