TDK Ventures Invests in Tulum Energy to Advance Scalable Low-Carbon Hydrogen Production

TDK Corporation (TSE: 6762) announced today that subsidiary TDK Ventures, Inc. has co-led the $27 million seed round of Tulum Energy, a pioneering startup producing clean hydrogen solutions for industrial applications through methane pyrolysis (aka: turquoise hydrogen) and by repurposing the designs of already mature industrial equipment. TDK Ventures’ investment will be used to accelerate the development of Tulum’s innovative clean hydrogen production technology, which leverages commercially available electric-arc plasma reactor technology to achieve cost parity with traditional hydrogen production methods, while also significantly reducing carbon emissions. With support from TDK Ventures and additional co-investment partners, Tulum expects to reach commercial operations directly following the first pilot and achieve hydrogen production costs matching or beating fossil fuel-based alternatives without relying on incentives or the sale of the potentially valuable carbon co-product.

Tulum, based in Milan, Italy, has been spun out of Techint Group, a global leader in steel, engineering, and energy. Tulum aims to commercialize a unique and scalable approach to hydrogen production, utilizing proven electric arc furnace (EAF) technology, commonly used in steel production at capacities of over 100 megawatts, in a novel configuration for producing hydrogen. With deep technical backing from Tenova, Techint’s subsidiary that produces EAFs, Tulum is positioned to deliver hydrogen at levelized costs comparable to conventional grey hydrogen, while achieving up to 95% reduction in greenhouse-gas emissions.

Tulum’s unique approach to hydrogen generation is designed to overcome the high costs and infrastructure challenges currently faced by alternative clean hydrogen solutions such as green-hydrogen.

The proceeds from this oversubscribed Seed round will be strategically deployed to construct Tulum Energy’s inaugural pilot plant in Pesquería, Mexico, located within the industrial complex of Ternium, Latin America’s leading steel company and a part of the Techint Group.