From being 5 founders to now 14 employees and several investors on the team, the hydrogen company is moving forward.
- We have gained a lot of expertise. There are people who have gone from secure positions in large companies to Gen2 Energy, which shows that this is something to bet on, says co-founder and communications manager Svein-Erik Figved.
Gen2 Energy , which is a company at Kobben, works with the production, distribution and sale of green hydrogen on a large scale. During the past year, they have entered into several export agreements, including with the Scottish Port of Cromarty Firth.
Also on the ownership side is former Quantafuel CEO Kjetil Bøen, who took an interest in the company early on.
On 30 March last year, Finansavisen wrote an article about Gen2 Energy. There it emerged that Kjetil Bøen had joined the ownership side, Jonas Meyer from Sparebank1 Markets joined as general manager and Oscar Spieler, with a background in Frontline, joined the board. The company had an issue of NOK 60 million and was valued at NOK 300 million.
- The fact that we brought Kjetil Bøen with us on the investor side, with his expertise and experience, was in many ways a sign of quality, says Svein-Erik.
And the company has come a long way in a short time. Now they want to establish production here in Norway. They have entered into a letter of intent to purchase land to build two hydrogen factories in Mosjøen in Vefsn municipality, which has attracted considerable interest with, among other things, a visit by Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre. They are also in full swing designing a factory facility in Suldal municipality in Ryfylke.
- It gives energy and strengthens our commitment and motivation to see things fall into place a bit, says Svein-Erik.
According to Svein-Erik, Gen2 Energy has been making good progress all along, even if it means extensive work.
-Of course, it has been demanding and a lot of work, but there have always been small steps in the right direction.
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"The climate is in our backbone"
The company was established in 2019, with a focus on solar energy. But the gang from Åsgårdstrand soon found out that it wasn't a competitive plan, so they turned around and in late summer 2020 they started investigating the market for hydrogen.
- We found out that there was a market and demand for hydrogen in Europe. The potential is great as Norway has a lot of surplus power, that is, we produce more electricity than we consume. The beauty of green hydrogen is that the only thing you need to make it is power in the form of electricity and water, and that it has no environmental emissions either in production or use, explains Svein-Erik.
As the hydrogen gas is made using water or wind power, it becomes an environmentally friendly and sustainable energy carrier. There are several types of hydrogen (blue, gray and green), and this is determined based on how the hydrogen gas is made. Green hydrogen uses renewable energy, that is, it is produced by electrolysis of water with solar, wind or hydropower.
Svein-Erik says the climate aspect has always been important to them.
The environment and climate are at the core of our business and we focus on circular resource use. All resources must be used optimally.
Hydrogen is an energy carrier that can be used in many contexts, primarily as an input factor in various industrial processes and as an energy source in the transport sector.
Premises at Kobben's
Gen2 Energy has been with Kobben since September 2020. Earlier this autumn, Kobben took over the premises of Innovation Norway at the Research Park. Gen2 Energy has moved in here.
- Several of our employees live in Oslo and the surrounding area, so we have a local office in Lysaker, but the main base is here in Horten. We feel good here at Kobben and think it's a nice environment to be in, says Svein-Erik.
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Gen2 Energy heard about Kobben through co-founder Terje Simonsen, who was a lecturer and supervisor on the entrepreneurship course at USN.
-We gradually needed an office and therefore contacted Kobben. And at Kobben we have got what we need. It has been great, says Svein-Erik.
