Australian renewable energy developer Verdant Technologies Australia is plotting its course to the world’s second largest exchange, NASDAQ, with plans to list mid-year.

Verdant Technologies’ goal is to become the first Australian clean energy company to list on the NASDAQ – second only to the New York Stock Exchange – and has kicked off its aspirations with the appointment of US investment banking firm Digital Offering, LLC.

Digital Offering will assist the company with exploring the US capital markets and potentially listing its shares on NASDAQ.

“There is increasing interest among US investors in the clean energy space, which is expected to witness substantial growth in the coming years as major economies escalate their shift to renewable energy in a bid to meet their climate action commitments,” Mark Elenowitz, managing director of Digital Offering, said.

Verdant Technologies is in the process of completing a $2m pre-IPO raise which has already attracted very strong investor interest and is on track to close heavily oversubscribed.

There is huge international investment demand for clean energy companies as the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) investment thematic continues to gain momentum.

According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), ESG investing has grown rapidly over the past decade, and the amount of professionally managed portfolios that have integrated key elements of ESG assessments exceeds $US17.5 trillion ($22 trillion) globally.

ESG-related traded investment products available to institutional and retail investors now exceeds $US1 trillion and continues to grow quickly across major financial markets, the OECD says.
 

Tapping $US10 trillion hydrogen market

Verdant Technologies’ goal is to become the largest hydrogen producer and exporter on Australia’s east coast.

The company’s proposed Monarch green hydrogen plant, Australia’s first scalable hydrogen production plant, will initially deliver 6.5 tonnes per day before being scaled up to 60 tonnes per day by 2024. Verdant plans to establish further similar sized hydrogen production plants within Australia.

The current global market for hydrogen is ~71 million tonnes per annum, or $US177.3 billion.

And hydrogen is only going to get hotter, according to firms like Goldman Sachs, which sees green hydrogen supplying up to 25 per cent of the world’s energy needs by 2050, making it worth $US10 trillion globally.

Globally, places like Europe, Japan and South Korea have all prioritised hydrogen as they ramp up their shift to renewable energy sources.

And Australia is no exception, with its goal to become a major player in the global market by 2030.

Verdant Technologies plans to be at the forefront of this multi-trillion-dollar opportunity and is conducting a feasibility study to locate the Monarch green hydrogen plant at its $550m biomass 151MW power station in NSW.

It will be the first hydrogen production plant to be located behind the meter on an existing green baseload power plant.

Verdant is also strategically positioning itself near or within major ports around Australia to access the ever-growing Asian demand for hydrogen.

A bankable feasibility study is slated for completion this year, with a view to reaching production by late 2022.

 

This article was developed in collaboration with Verdant Technologies Australia, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.

 

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.

 

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