12TOZERO develops revolutionary HyFloat solution in Rotterdam

20.09.2023

Energy Project

Michel Ingenbleek (© Rotterdam Partners)

The success and the speed of the energy transition rests for a large part on new innovations being designed, developed, tested and brought to market. International start-up 12TOZERO is developing their revolutionary HyFloat system in Rotterdam, in the midst of a bustling maritime ecosystem.

12TOZERO, an international start-up company located at CIC Rotterdam in the iconic Groot Handelsgebouw building, was founded in 2019 by Jamie Frew (CEO), after he discovered a gap in the hydrogen value chain based on offshore floating wind development. Michel Ingenbleek and Simon Potter (CTO) joined Jamie, forming the current team of 12TOZERO. The mission of this company is ‘to harness the vast potential of offshore wind to provide a reliable stream of hydrogen, at scale, and at low cost, to enable a fully decarbonised global energy system.’

At the core of 12TOZERO’s solution is the innovative HyFloat concept. This concept is based on the premise that by 2050, 2,000 GW of offshore wind power is needed in the global energy mix and that up to 50% of this capacity is expected to be dedicated to hydrogen. With 80% of wind resources located in remote deep water, it is a no-brainer that new technologies increasing the production, storage and distribution components of harvesting offshore energy have enormous potential.

‘Besides the universities, the network of energy companies, offshore developers and service companies here is enormous and has pointed us in the right direction in an open and productive manner. Rotterdam is ground-zero for hydrogen as it is the lifeblood for the industrial sector here and it is only going to grow as the port attacks hard to decarbonise activities so there is a huge amount of interests here and a very supportive R&D ecosystem.’

Michel Ingenbleek about Rotterdam as home base for 12TOZERO.