German startup secures $62M for ‘carbon negative’ power plants

German startup Reverion has secured $62mn as it looks to scale a mini power plant that can generate clean energy, capture CO2, and make hydrogen all in one shipping container-sized unit. 

“Reverion’s technology works very efficiently in both ways — you can use the plants to store that energy and provide it back to the grid when there is demand,” Christoph Baumeister, principal at Possible Ventures, one of the investors in the round, told TNW.  

Reverion — spun-off from the Technical University of Munich in 2022 — will use the fresh funds to begin serial production of its power plants as it races to fulfill over $100mn in pre-orders.

‘Reversible’ power plants

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Biogas, mostly made up of methane, is produced when organic waste decomposes. Last year, biogas and other forms of bioenergy covered about 7% of the EU’s total electricity needs.

Unlike most of the plants in operation today, Reversion’s tech turns biogas into electricity using specially-designed solid oxide fuel cells that boost efficiency to 80% — double that of conventional gas engines.   

Reverion’s name is derived from ‘reversible’ and ‘ions’ because the startup’s plants can be used both to generate electricity — during times of demand — and to make methane and hydrogen when there is a surplus of renewable energy on the grid.

The plant also captures the CO2 produced during the electrochemical reaction inside the fuel-cell, which can then be sold to make products like Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF) or buried underground for perpetuity. Reversion claims this makes it a CO2 negative technology. 

While some question the carbon-cutting claims of many bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) schemes, it remains the world’s only kind of carbon capture technology that also makes energy. And by using fuel-cells, which don’t combust the biogas, Reverion’s technology holds a lot of promise as a climate-friendly way to generate clean energy from biomass.

Tapping the market

By producing much more power from the same amount of waste, Reverion’s plants boost profits for the increasing numbers of farmers and industries that sell bioenergy to the grid. The captured CO2 also offers another potential revenue stream.

Reverion makes a 100kW device that fits in a 20-foot standard container and a 500kW system installed in a 40-foot container. 

“The demand for our units has been overwhelming in Germany, and we’re not stopping there — we’re preparing for a global push with strategies tailored to each region’s regulations,” said Dr Stephan Herrmann, CEO and managing director at Reverion. 

The oversubscribed Series A funding round was led by US investor Energy Impact Partners with participation from Honda and the European Innovation Council. Munich-based Possible Ventures, climate tech VC Extantia Capital, UVC Partners, Green Generation Fund, and Doral EnergyTech Ventures also joined in.  

“In this financing round, we’ve selected partners offering capital and crucial expertise in scaling hardware startups and advancing innovative energy technologies,” said Herrmann. “We’re excited to onboard top-tier investors from the US and Japan as we grow the company.”