Tulum Energy Secures $27M for Novel Methane Pyrolysis Hydrogen Production Technology
Key Insights
Tulum Energy, a Techint Group spin-out, has secured $27 million in seed funding to commercialize a rediscovered methane pyrolysis technology for clean hydrogen production.
The core technology, an accidental discovery from 2002 involving an electric arc furnace splitting methane into hydrogen and solid carbon, was recently revived due to growing interest in low-carbon hydrogen.
Tulum Energy's method distinguishes itself by not requiring expensive catalysts and utilizing a modified, widely established electric arc furnace technology.
The company plans to build a pilot plant in Mexico, aiming for a highly competitive hydrogen production cost of $1.50 per kilogram, complemented by valuable carbon byproduct sales.
Tulum Energy, a newly spun-out venture from the Techint Group, has successfully closed an oversubscribed $27 million seed funding round, aiming to commercialize a rediscovered methane pyrolysis technology for clean hydrogen production. The round was led by TDK Ventures and CDP Venture Capital, with participation from Doral Energy-Tech Ventures, MITO Tech Ventures, and TechEnergy Ventures.
The core of Tulum Energy's innovation stems from an accidental discovery made between 2002 and 2005 by engineers at Techint Group. While optimizing an electric arc furnace for a steelmaker, they observed that carbon electrodes were growing rather than degrading, indicating an inadvertent pyrolysis reaction. This process effectively split methane into pure hydrogen and solid carbon in the absence of oxygen. The discovery, largely forgotten for two decades due to a lack of market interest in methane pyrolysis at the time, was recently unearthed by Techint’s corporate VC arm, TechEnergy Ventures, leading to the formation of Tulum Energy.
Massimiliano Pieri, CEO of Tulum Energy, highlighted the historical context, stating, “Back then, nobody cared because nobody cared about methane pyrolysis, about hydrogen.” He noted the serendipitous nature of the rediscovery, where Techint’s investors realized they already possessed the technology they were seeking externally. This unique origin story provides Tulum Energy with a significant head start, leveraging existing intellectual property and industrial expertise.
Unlike some competitors in the methane pyrolysis space, such as Modern Hydrogen, Molten Industries, and Monolith, Tulum Energy’s method does not require expensive catalysts. Furthermore, its reliance on a modified electric arc furnace, a widely understood and utilized industrial technology, offers a distinct advantage in terms of scalability and operational familiarity. This approach simplifies the process and potentially reduces capital expenditure.
The $27 million seed funding will be primarily allocated to constructing a pilot plant in Mexico, strategically located adjacent to an existing Techint Group steel plant. This co-location presents a direct off-take opportunity, with the steel plant potentially purchasing both hydrogen for industrial processes and the valuable solid carbon byproduct. Pieri projects that a full-scale commercial plant would be capable of producing two tons of hydrogen and 600 tons of carbon daily. Tulum Energy aims to achieve a hydrogen production cost of approximately $1.50 per kilogram in the U.S., leveraging favorable electricity and natural gas prices. This target price is highly competitive, being only 50 cents more than most conventionally produced hydrogen today and significantly undercutting many leading green hydrogen methods, even before accounting for the revenue generated from carbon sales. This cost efficiency positions Tulum Energy as a formidable contender in the evolving clean energy landscape.