Calderion, WenCo, Terravent Back Graforce's Plasma Tech

Three industrial decarbonization-focused investors—Calderion, WenCo, and Terravent—have invested in Graforce, a Berlin-based clean hydrogen technology company, to accelerate the global deployment of its proprietary plasma pyrolysis platform. The transaction, announced February 24, 2026, positions Graforce to scale commercial installations of its methane-splitting technology across energy-intensive industries seeking alternatives to conventional steam methane reforming and electrolysis pathways.

Financial terms were not disclosed, though sources familiar with the matter suggest the combined commitment exceeds €50 million in growth equity. The investment comes as European industrial policy increasingly favors technologies that produce hydrogen without direct CO₂ emissions, and as multinational chemical, steel, and refining operators face tightening carbon pricing regimes under the EU Emissions Trading System.

Graforce's core technology uses high-frequency plasma to cleave methane molecules into hydrogen and solid carbon—a process that operates at significantly lower temperatures than conventional reforming and produces no carbon dioxide. The solid carbon byproduct can be sequestered permanently or sold into industrial applications including battery anodes, construction materials, and specialty chemicals.

Traditional steam methane reforming, which supplies roughly 95% of global hydrogen today, emits approximately 9–12 kg of CO₂ per kilogram of hydrogen produced. Graforce's plasma process, by contrast, yields zero Scope 1 emissions at the point of production, though the carbon intensity of the final hydrogen depends on the methane feedstock—whether fossil natural gas, biogas, or synthetic methane derived from renewable sources.

The company has operated pilot and demonstration units in Germany since 2020, including installations at wastewater treatment facilities where biogas serves as feedstock. Early commercial partnerships include projects with European chemical manufacturers seeking to reduce the carbon footprint of ammonia synthesis and with industrial gas suppliers exploring distributed hydrogen production models.

The investor consortium brings complementary expertise in scaling capital-intensive clean technologies. Calderion, a Munich-based growth equity firm, focuses exclusively on industrial decarbonization platforms and has backed European leaders in carbon capture, renewable fuels, and electrification infrastructure. The firm's portfolio companies collectively abate more than 5 million metric tons of CO₂ annually.

WenCo, the investment arm of Wenger Group, a Swiss industrial conglomerate with operations in chemicals, engineering, and energy systems, adds strategic corporate alignment. Wenger's manufacturing subsidiaries are among the target customers for Graforce's modular plasma units, and the partnership is expected to facilitate reference installations and technical validation across multiple end markets.

Terravent, a London-based climate infrastructure fund, specializes in early-growth hard-tech ventures with pathways to policy-supported revenue streams. The fund has co-invested alongside sovereign wealth vehicles and development finance institutions in projects qualifying for EU Innovation Fund grants and contracts-for-difference mechanisms under national hydrogen strategies.

Global clean hydrogen investment exceeded $30 billion in 2025, according to BloombergNEF, driven by industrial decarbonization mandates, carbon border adjustment mechanisms, and the rapid buildout of electrolyzer manufacturing capacity. Yet deployment has lagged initial projections, hampered by high capital costs, uncertain offtake agreements, and intermittency challenges for renewable-powered electrolysis.

Plasma pyrolysis occupies a middle ground: lower capital intensity than electrolysis, zero direct emissions, and compatibility with existing natural gas infrastructure. For industrial operators under regulatory pressure to decarbonize within the next five to seven years—timelines too aggressive for full electrification—the technology offers an actionable transition pathway.

The European Commission's REPowerEU plan targets 10 million metric tons of domestic renewable hydrogen production by 2030, alongside 10 million tons of imports. While the primary policy focus remains electrolysis powered by wind and solar, the EU's Delegated Acts on renewable fuels of non-biological origin (RFNBOs) allow pathways that avoid direct CO₂ emissions—opening eligibility for plasma-derived hydrogen when coupled with biogas or renewable methane feedstocks.

Germany's national hydrogen strategy, updated in 2025, allocates €3.5 billion in subsidies for industrial decarbonization projects, with preference for technologies demonstrable at commercial scale by 2027. Graforce has already secured a €12 million Innovation Fund grant for a 5 MW demonstration facility in Brandenburg, scheduled to commence operations in Q3 2026.

Graforce's immediate deployment strategy centers on three verticals: wastewater treatment operators seeking to monetize biogas, chemical plants requiring on-site hydrogen for ammonia or methanol synthesis, and steel producers exploring hydrogen-based direct reduction processes.

The company's modular unit design—scalable from 500 kW to 10 MW—allows distributed production adjacent to end users, reducing transmission losses and pipeline infrastructure requirements. Each 2 MW module can produce approximately 400 kg of hydrogen per day, sufficient to supply a mid-sized industrial customer or serve as a refueling hub for heavy-duty transport fleets.

Graforce has disclosed Letters of Intent covering more than 50 MW of aggregate capacity with European industrial counterparties, though binding offtake agreements remain contingent on final investment decisions expected in H2 2026. The company projects a manufacturing capacity of 200 MW per year by 2028, assuming successful scale-up of its automated assembly processes and supply chain for plasma reactors and power electronics.

Graforce competes in a crowded field of hydrogen technology developers, including electrolyzer manufacturers such as Nel ASA, Plug Power, and ITM Power, as well as alternative methane pyrolysis platforms including microwave-assisted processes and molten metal reactors under development by ventures such as Monolith Materials in the United States.

The company's principal differentiation lies in its plasma frequency and reactor geometry, which enable continuous operation at lower energy intensity than competing pyrolysis methods. Graforce claims a specific energy consumption of 3.5–4.0 kWh per cubic meter of hydrogen, compared to 4.5–5.5 kWh for electrolysis (assuming grid electricity) and 5–6 kWh for alternative thermal pyrolysis designs.

Yet challenges remain. The technology's economic viability hinges on access to low-cost methane feedstocks and favorable carbon accounting frameworks. In jurisdictions without robust carbon pricing or renewable fuel incentives, conventional gray hydrogen retains a significant cost advantage. Moreover, the solid carbon byproduct—while valuable in theory—lacks established commodity markets at the volumes Graforce envisions, creating potential disposal or storage liabilities.

For the investor consortium, the Graforce thesis rests on a pragmatic assessment of industrial decarbonization timelines and the limitations of incumbent technologies.

"The narrative around hydrogen has been dominated by a false binary: expensive green electrolysis or high-carbon gray hydrogen," said Elena Ruiz, Partner at Terravent. "Plasma pyrolysis, especially when paired with renewable or waste-derived methane, offers a third way—one that's deployable now, at scale, with economics that work in today's policy environment."

The deal reflects broader trends in climate tech investing, where capital is increasingly flowing to technologies that can deliver near-term emissions reductions rather than purely long-term, capital-intensive infrastructure plays. With European carbon prices hovering near €100 per metric ton and industrial competitiveness concerns mounting, corporates are seeking actionable decarbonization pathways that do not require wholesale process redesigns or decade-long permitting cycles.

While the current round positions Graforce for independent growth, industry observers note several plausible strategic exit scenarios. Major industrial gas suppliers—including Linde, Air Liquide, and Air Products—have signaled interest in acquiring differentiated hydrogen production technologies as part of their decarbonization service offerings. Similarly, energy majors such as TotalEnergies, Shell, and BP are actively building low-carbon hydrogen portfolios, both through internal development and M&A.

A public markets pathway remains contingent on Graforce achieving sufficient scale and revenue visibility, likely requiring contracted capacity exceeding 500 MW and EBITDA profitability. Comparable clean hydrogen ventures, including Plug Power and Bloom Energy, have encountered volatile public market receptions amid sustained losses and execution challenges, underscoring the premium investors place on demonstrated unit economics.

Graforce's immediate priorities center on finalizing offtake agreements, commissioning the Brandenburg demonstration facility, and expanding its engineering and manufacturing workforce. The company expects to triple headcount from approximately 80 employees today to more than 250 by year-end 2027, with concentrations in process engineering, project development, and customer support.

Longer-term ambitions include international expansion, with initial targets in Scandinavia—where biogas infrastructure is mature and carbon pricing robust—and selective markets in North America where state-level clean fuel standards and federal tax credits under the Inflation Reduction Act create favorable incentive structures.

The company is also exploring derivative applications of its plasma technology, including direct methane-to-ammonia synthesis and integration with direct air capture systems to create fully circular carbon loops. Such innovations remain pre-commercial but signal Graforce's ambitions to position plasma pyrolysis as a platform technology rather than a single-product solution.

For the industrial sectors that account for nearly 30% of global CO₂ emissions—steel, chemicals, refining, and cement—the path to net zero remains uncertain and contested. Technologies like Graforce's plasma pyrolysis will not alone solve the decarbonization challenge, but they represent the kind of pragmatic, scalable interventions that may bridge the gap between regulatory ambition and operational reality.

Whether this particular technology proves to be a transitional stopgap or a durable pillar of the future hydrogen economy will depend on factors beyond investor capital: feedstock availability, regulatory treatment of carbon-neutral versus carbon-free pathways, and the speed at which renewable electricity costs decline. For now, Calderion, WenCo, and Terravent are betting that industries desperate for near-term solutions will pay a premium for technologies that work today—not just in the theoretical future.