Amogy raises $ 80 million to ships and data centers with ammonia

From tariffs to the recent reconciliation bill, new climatic technology companies have been dealing with a panorama that changes rapidly. Brooklyn headquarters with headquarters has managed to avoid turbulence induced by American politics keeping its eyes in more promising foreign markets.

Ammonia in Amogy’s ammonia technology and its focus on Asian markets, including Japan, South Korea and Singapore, have helped him obtain a new financing of $ 23 million. The round, which carries its most recent funds to $ 80 million, increases the valuation of the company to $ 700 million, said co -founder and CEO Seonghoon Woo to TechCrunch. The round was directed by the Development Bank of Korea and KDB Silicon Valley LLC with the participation of Bonangels Venture Partners, JB Investment and Investment.

Amogy is mainly based on the United States, but the startup has found the demand for its central technology in Japan and South Korea, countries that seek new ways to expand energy generation.

“They have no solar, wind and geothermal resources of high quality, and they are not in the best position to build nuclear energy,” Woo said.

Ammonia is used more widely as a component of plant fertilizers; It can also serve as what experts call a hydrogen bearer. Normally, hydrogen is difficult to transport, it is flammable and prone to leakage, but a hydrogen bearer like ammonia makes it easier.

In an effort to reduce their carbon contamination, Asian countries have begun to burn ammonia in existing fossil fuel power plants. Usually, operators will replace some percentage of coal with ammonia.

Shipping companies have begun to do the same, replacing the diesel with the compound. The ammonia has found fertile land in that industry because the international maritime organization, which regulates maritime shipment, will begin to impose a carbon tax From 2027.

But anywhere where the ammonia burns, whether an energy plant or an ocean ship, it must have at least some combustible fossil fuels next to it. That makes complete decarbonization impossible.

Amogy has been developing a way to completely replace fossil fuels using ammonia as fuel. First, the company breaks three hydrogen atoms in each nitrogen atom. Then send the hydrogen to a fuel cell, which generates electricity and water vapor, while releasing pure air nitrogen.

Because there is no combustion, the company’s process does not publish any_unknown pollution, which can create smog and cause a HEALTH PROBLEM ANTI -PARTY.

The startup previously tested its technology in a tugboat boat, and is still on its way to implementing a commercial scale system on a ship in the next two years. But Amogy is also developing an energy plant that will provide energy to land customers, including data centers. The first of its kind will begin to generate energy in the next two years, Woo said.

The first systems will be on the smallest side, capable of producing 500 kilowatts to a megavatio of electricity, although customers can implement several in parallel to generate more energy.

Woo said that Amogy’s change to Japan and South Korea arrives at a time when countries begin to develop their ammonia infrastructure. At the end of the decade, coal power plants are expected to use a certain amount of ammonia in their operations.

Initially, the ammonia will probably come from the United States and the Middle East, where a low -cost natural gas is used to make the compound. Asian countries are Standards configuration Due to the amount of carbon contamination, it can result from ammonia production. As a result, producers need to capture at least part of the carbon in order to sell to those markets.

But in the future, said Woo, hope is to make the transition to green hydrogen sources to create ammonia. The Asian countries, Woo said: “See the ammonia basically as the next LNG, but without carbon.”