Oslo-listed Teco 2030 has brought three new shareholders on board as it continues to work on hydrogen fuel cells and carbon capture for shipping.

The Norwegian technology company said it had raised NOK 20m ($2.3m) through a private placement of 3.24m new shares.

This took place after the market closed on 22 June.

The shares were issued at a price of NOK 6.16 each, against a closing price of NOK 6.70.

Teco 2030 has not named the new investors, but chief executive Tore Enger told TradeWinds they are Norwegian financial institutions that are strong believers in hydrogen and fuel cells being the "new mega wave" for shipping.

He added: "We intend to use the net proceeds from the private placement to continue the development of our marine fuel cells, and for general corporate purposes."

The total number of shares has been increased to 127.2m.

Carbon capture and fuel cell plans

Earlier in June, Teco 2030 said it was linking up with US-listed gas technology group Chart Industries to develop equipment that will capture carbon dioxide emitted by ships and store it in liquid form.

The two groups have agreed to jointly develop on-board systems for vessels using cryogenic carbon capture technology developed by SES, a firm which was acquired by Chart Industries in December 2020.

The technology will separate CO2 from the ships' exhaust gases and create a high purity liquid CO2 product which can then be stored in cryogenic storage tanks until the ship reaches a port, they said.

Teco 2020 is also a scrubber producer and is developing hydrogen fuel cells for vessels.

In May, the company said it was developing a fuel cell container called FCC 1600 that has an installed power output of 1.6 MW.

This will be fitted to vessels in place of one auxiliary engine to provide power for operations in port, eliminating CO2 emissions entirely.

Chief executive Tore Enger told TradeWinds the cell is one of many sizes of prototype the company is hoping to install on ships in the first quarter of 2023.