Hydrogenpro ASA

OSE:HYPRO

Earnings Call Transcript 2022-Q4

[Tarjei Johansen, executive]

Good morning, everyone and welcome to HydrogenPro's Q4 2022 Presentation and Webcast. My name is Tarjei Johansen, and I am the CEO of HydrogenPro. And with me here today is our CFO, Martin Thanem Holtet. I will cover with you today some highlights from the past quarter. Then Martin will give you the financial update before I talk you through our forward plans and short- to medium-term focus areas as well as a summary of today's presentation.

The initial test of the world's largest high-pressure alkaline electrolyzer, at the Herøya Industrial Park located in Porsgrunn in Norway is completed. Our manufacturing facility upgrades have been completed, and we now have 300 megawatts of annual capacity. Our partner, DG Fuels has secured 100% offtake from their SAF plant in Louisiana. And we are progressing on delivery to ACE's project, the world's largest green hydrogen energy hub.

Setting a new industry standard. We have completed the initial testing of the world's largest single stack high-pressure alkaline electrolyzer. The electrolyzer has been validated to produce 1,100 normal cubic meter hydrogen per hour at normal current density. This equals 100 kilos of pure green pressurized hydrogen per hour, which sets a new standard for the industry. This provides proof of concept that our electrolyzer and gas separator technologies will produce hydrogen on a large scale. We're currently conducting further testing to optimize the electrolyzer efficiency.

This is a slide familiar to many of you but you will hear, see it with updated Q4 numbers. What this shows is that HydrogenPro has grown more than 10x since our IPO in October of 2020. We have a manufacturing capacity of 300 megawatts per year with the current order backlog just under NOK 750 million as well as an active sales pipeline of 18.5 gigawatts. As of last week, we employ 165 very excited and dedicated employees. And in October last year, we moved up to the Oslo Børs main list.

We have laid a very strong foundation for further growth, and these are our key priorities for 2023. We will complete product delivery for the ACES project in the second half of this year. We are in the process of expanding our organizational footprint, and we have opened a sales office earlier this year in Duisburg, Germany. We also have plans to build up our U.S. organization. Our sales department is growing and 1 of our key priorities will be to increase our order backlog. We are also working on adding manufacturing capacity, and some of you will remember that we have previously communicated our plans to have 500 megawatts of manufacturing capacity in the U.S. as well as in Europe. This is still the plan. And lastly, we are working on final verification, our Generation 3 electrodes with testing and scaling well underway.

The front-end engineering design study at the DG Fuels project in Louisiana is near completion and a final investment decision is expected later this year. HydrogenPro has been chosen as the supplier for alkaline electrolyzers for the project. And as communicated previously, the scope value is in excess of USD 500 million with electrolyzer requirements in excess of 800 megawatts. Life cycle services are not included in the $500 million estimate. Very exciting is that DG Fuels, they have secured 100% offtake for the Louisiana plant.

We are progressing on the 220-megawatt delivery to the advanced clean energy storage hub or ACES, here, we have also signed a 10-year service and support agreement. HydrogenPro will complete the manufacturing of the electrolyzer systems in the second half of 2023, followed by on-site work with completion in late 2024.

Our footprint is growing. And currently, we have offices in Norway, Denmark, Germany, the U.S. and China. Our headquarters is in Porsgrunn, and our administration office is in Oslo. I mentioned our new office in Duisburg, Germany, which will be leading our sales and marketing efforts in Continental Europe. And we also opened a sales and admin office in Boston, U.S. at the tail end of last year. Our R&D and electrode manufacturing in Aarhus, Denmark continue to develop the next generation of technology and our manufacturing in Tianjin, China is up and running and producing electrolyzers that are being shipped out to the customers.

I will now hand the presentation over to our CFO, Martin to give an update on Q4 financials.

[Martin Holtet, executive]

Thanks a lot, Tarjei. I will now walk you through the financials for the fourth quarter of 2022. So in the quarter, we generated revenues of NOK 25 million, which is a 73% increase versus the previous quarter. The revenues are related to the world's largest electrolyzer at Herøya, Norway, the delivery to the Takasago Plant in Japan. FEED studies and also a minor portion is from the ACES delivery. And we recognized in revenues according to the percentage of completion principle.

The adjusted EBITDA was negative with NOK 34 million, while the reported EBITDA came in at minus NOK 33 million. And the net loss ended at NOK 24 million. So the Q4 results are impacted by R&D expenses. And the main portion of these are included in cost of goods sold during the quarter, meaning that the lower gross margin level in the -- but in 2023, we will now see a step-up in revenue recognition with increased manufacturing activity related then to the delivery of the large ACES project.

And we want to reiterate our guidance. In 2023, we plan to recognize revenues of approximately 90% of the ACES contract with a positive margin impact. Our backlog ended at NOK 747 million, and the change in the backlog is mainly driven by a weaker dollar versus the Norwegian kroner. This contributed with NOK 76 million, and the remainder is then the recognized revenues during the quarter.

So then let's look at our liquidity position. The year ended with a cash position of NOK 257 million. In the quarter, we invested NOK 9 million, which is primarily related to our manufacturing facility in China, which is now up and running and manufacturing. Looking at the changes in the cash balance during the quarter, you will find the waterfall graph on the right-hand side. So we started the fourth quarter with NOK 330 million -- sorry, NOK 343 million in the cash balance. The adjusted EBITDA came in at minus NOK 34 million. The net investments equaled NOK 9 million and then net working capital and other contributed with a negative of NOK 43 million. And out of this NOK 43 million, NOK 34 million are related to inventory buildup for us to manufacture -- basically deliver and manufacture on the awarded purchase orders at our fabrication facility in Tianjin.

We have a very, very focused capital deployment plan. We will invest in global supply chain and manufacturing setup. We are a technology owner, and this enables us to scale up rapidly on a global basis. We take the role as a technology frontrunner, through investments in technology and innovation. We will continue to grow the organization in line with the anticipated steep market growth. And lastly, it's likely to be some working capital needs on execution of larger orders.

And now we would also like to give you some guidance with regards to the main cash flow items during the next few months. So in the first quarter this year, it will continue to be a working capital need to deliver on the purchase orders. But please note that the payments from the client will be received during the manufacturing progress of the orders. We will continue to spend funds on R&D, which include the long-term testing of the third-generation electrode technology, and we will continue to grow our presence in the U.S. and Europe. But the underlying message is we have an adequate cash position with the current activity level.

So with that, back to you, Tarjei, to walk us through the strategy section.

[Tarjei Johansen, executive]

Thank you for that, Martin. We have identified these 4 strategic pillars in order to become the #1 provider of large-scale green hydrogen plants. We will continue to invest in R&D and engineering to maintain our position as a technology leader, we are expanding our footprint in order to become a global reaching company, and we are developing a scalable and flexible business model combined with a scalable and modular product offering, and we are partnering with our clients not only as a product delivery company, but also as a true life cycle partner.

Our first pillar is technology leadership. And we are taking the lead role in the hydrogen technology revolution, and we really believe there are big rooms for improvement. This is a technology which has been around for almost 100 years with very little advancements in technology and efficiency. With our third-generation high-pressure alkaline system based on the next-generation electrode technology, we are taking a huge leap forward in terms of electrolyzer efficiency and overall improvement in balance of plant. These efficiency gains and balance of plant improvements will have a huge impact on the overall OpEx spend for running a green hydrogen plant.

We have shown this illustration in the past and this is an illustration to compare the various electrolyzer technologies on the market today. HydrogenPro's current technology, it's the 1 in the third column there, the high-pressure alkaline unit, which has been around since the 1960s. This is a very good unit that is well suited for variable electricity input, such as what would be generated from green electricity sources. And 1 of the great benefits of this unit is that it requires no use of noble metals.

Our third-generation system is currently under development and testing. And to date, we have shown some very exciting results and we are seeing with our new electrode technology, a 14% increase in efficiency over current high-pressure alkaline systems, which again will lead to an increased plant efficiency, meaning we can produce 14% more hydrogen with the same electricity input or to state it in another way, we need 14% less electricity to produce the same amount of hydrogen. Another great benefit of the third-generation unit is a much lower requirement for cooling water due to the lower overall energy into the system.

As we look at the levelized cost of hydrogen, CapEx makes up around 25% of the equation while OpEx accounts for about 75%. As our 3rd Generation electrodes are showing efficiency gains of up to 14%, a significant OpEx spend reduction can be realized over the 30-year life of a green hydrogen plant. We continue to invest in technology and R&D, and we currently have 11 projects in the pipeline. Funding for all of these projects has been secured, and we are partnering with several leading academic institutions. Our total R&D portfolio today is in excess of NOK 150 million. We have also filed several patents this past year.

Our second strategy pillar is building our global footprint. We have recognized that we need to have a level of organizational flexibility to serve each individual region. While a JV or a licensing agreement could be the preferred way to go in a given region, it might make more sense to do an all-in hydrogen pro model in another country or region. We are currently evaluating expansion of footprint in the U.S., in Europe as well as the MENA region. Our main focus, however, in the short to medium term will be the U.S. And this is due to -- in addition to contracts already awarded, it will be due in large part to the increased momentum for green hydrogen due to the Inflation Reduction Act.

The Inflation Reduction Act or IRA, as it's called, was signed into U.S. federal law effective August 16 of last year. This is a landmark piece of legislation, which promises significant tax credits for producers of green hydrogen. With tax credit of up to USD 3 per kilo of green hydrogen produced. The level of credit given depends on the greenness of the electricity used where wind, solar and hydropower will qualify for the max tax credits. Data shows that demand for clean hydrogen has increased significantly both in the short and long term as a result of the IRA. These tax incentives and clean hydrogen demand makes our high-pressure alkaline electrolyzers very attractive for the U.S. market.

In addition to our scalable and flexible business model, a key part of our strategy lies in offering a scalable and modular product offering. We aim to deliver a standardized core scope with our electrolyzer stacks and gas separator skids. With this setup, we can deliver complete electrolyzer systems from 5 megawatts and up. As all stacks can be seamlessly integrated and connected, we can then scale up from 5 megawatts to whatever size the customer requires. Through the strategic partnerships, we can then deliver a complete solution, including electrical and auxiliary systems and EPC solutions. We are targeting additional strategic partnerships going forward, and we have ongoing discussions.

We are positioning ourselves to be a life cycle partner to our clients. We're not only will we deliver the electrolysis for the plant but we will also have a service and maintenance offering. If we consider the design life of an electrolyzer to be 30 years, then just about every 10 years, a service and overhaul should take place. At this time, each individual electrolyzer will be taken out of service, opened up, checked and then new electrodes will be installed. The electrolyzer will then be installed back into service again.

There is a mutual benefit here for us and the client. Obviously, this will generate recurring service revenue stream for us, and it will give our clients access to our latest technology improvements and upgrades. We're also considering sources of additional aftersales revenue streams, including remote and digital services, rapid response support, product optimization as well as predictive modeling.

In summary, we are very excited about the year ahead, and we have laid a very, very solid foundation for the future. The key for us going forward will be excellence in execution, growing our sales pipeline as well as expanding our footprint.

That concludes our Q4 presentation. I thank you for your attendance, and Martin and I will now answer any questions. [indiscernible], do we have any questions from our audience?

[Unknown Executive]

We have plenty of questions coming in. So first, regarding the world's largest electrolyzer, has Mitsubishi made final improvement of verification?

[Tarjei Johansen, executive]

So as this is the first of its kind system at this large scale, further testing to dial in maximum performance and efficiency is underway and this is done in cooperation now with Mitsubishi.

[Unknown Executive]

Another question. Do you have enough cash to fund your expansion strategy? Or will you have to dilute? That's for you, Martin.

[Martin Holtet, executive]

So what I said during the presentation is that we have an adequate cash position with -- in order to deliver on the awarded purchase order, meaning the current activity level. No doubt about that. But of course, we have a long-term target within 5 years to reach 5 gigawatts of global manufacturing capacity. And that, of course, will require us to raise the funds needed in order to execute on that.

[Unknown Executive]

And for you, Tarjei, when do you expect final investment decision for the Louisiana project? Does first half of 2023 seem reasonable? And how is the main project advancing?

[Tarjei Johansen, executive]

So the FEL and FEED studies are well underway for DG Fuels. FEL 1 and 2 has been completed. The last part of the FEL process is the FEL 3 that is underway. And typically, a study like this, you're looking at anywhere between 4 to 6 months to have that completed. So we expect a final investment decision in the second half of this year.

[Unknown Executive]

Thank you. And for you, Martin. You guide on positive margin on the ACES project. Can you be more specific in terms of what levels we are talking about? And is it EBITDA positive?

[Martin Holtet, executive]

Yes. So what I said is that there will be a positive margin impact, and it's likely to be a higher gross margin on that project compared to what we have delivered now with validating our technology. So yes, it will definitely be a positive impact on the consolidated EBITDA level. But we do not guide on sort of the EBITDA margin or do not also disclose any targets with regards to group level EBITDA. But important to say, it will have a positive impact, delivering higher gross margin than what you will typically see during 2022.

[Unknown Executive]

There are several questions coming in regarding production and manufacturing capacity. So I'll think I'll sum it up by asking, could you elaborate on plan to reach 1 gigawatt capacity by end of the year?

[Tarjei Johansen, executive]

Yes. It's an aggressive target, but we are underway in evaluating options. We are looking at potential partnerships. We are also identifying some potential greenfield sites as well as brownfield sites. And by brownfield, we mean facilities that are already there that we just have to fit to our purpose. That will obviously be a lot quicker than doing a greenfield, which is basically you start from basically an empty lot that you have to build a structure on.

And so this is a pretty dynamic situation and there's a lot of work ongoing. So I'm just going to leave it at that, but the plan is still that we will expand 500 megawatts in Europe as well as 500 megawatts in the U.S.

[Unknown Executive]

Martin, for you. You had a cash drain of NOK 86 million in the fourth quarter. Should we expect such quarterly levels going forward? Are you comfortable with the funding given the manufacturing ramp-up ambition and organizational growth?

[Martin Holtet, executive]

So what I said is that we have an adequate cash position with delivering on the awarded purchase orders in 2023. But growth beyond that to reach our short- and medium-term targets or manufacturing capacity, that will, of course, require us to raise funds to execute on that.

[Unknown Executive]

A very specific question, how much cash is needed to set up a 500-megawatt factory?

[Tarjei Johansen, executive]

Yes. Again, it depends if you go greenfield or if you go brownfield. It's -- and obviously, it also depends where are you setting this facility up. I think we'll just leave it at that.

[Martin Holtet, executive]

I can also maybe just to add to that, of course, it depends also sort of HydrogenPro's share into that, of course, will depend whether we do sort of partnership approach, whether we do it on HydrogenPro on a stand-alone basis.

[Unknown Executive]

What is the status of DG Fuel's application to obtain a USD 2.5 billion loan guarantee by the U.S. Department of Energy for the Louisiana project?

[Tarjei Johansen, executive]

So that loan guarantee is secured. So that's already signed.

[Martin Holtet, executive]

But of course, it will be executed upon the final investment decision.

[Tarjei Johansen, executive]

Final investment, yes.

[Unknown Executive]

Do you expect the final verification of your 3rd Generation electrode more versus first half or second half of 2023?

[Tarjei Johansen, executive]

I think we absolutely hope that we will have it in the first half. Now I think as we have communicated previously, we are still a fairly lean and small organization. So there is a lot of things going on in parallel, but this really has a high priority for us. Our aim is that we should have the final verification and testing completed in this half.

[Unknown Executive]

Can you give a little bit more information on the pipeline? How much of the pipeline could be awarded this year and turned into backlog?

[Tarjei Johansen, executive]

Well, it's actually a pipeline that it hasn't seen a lot of growth in the last quarter or so. But there's a lot of interest right now, and we are firming up on some potential customers and some bids. So we're conversing with clients, we're getting requests for FEED studies for bids continuously. And we're not going to be able, honestly, to respond to everything that is coming through to us. But it's -- there are some projects that are right around the corner, I should say, not necessarily awarded to us yet, but that we expect some decisions to be coming very quickly.

[Martin Holtet, executive]

So just looking at sort of standard project, you typically do a FEED study before the final investment decision is made, and then we will be awarded an order for electrolyzer systems. So we are now positioning ourselves for the delivery of the sort of the purchase orders on the systems with conducting them FEED studies to the clients.

[Unknown Executive]

Thank you. I think we will say that concludes the Q&A session.

[Tarjei Johansen, executive]

Thank you, everyone.

[Martin Holtet, executive]

Thank you.