PowerTap Hydrogen Capital Corp. (NEO: MOVE) (FWB: 2K6A) (OTC: MOTNF)
PowerTap Hydrogen Capital Corp. (NEO: MOVE) (FWB: 2K6A) (OTC: MOTNF) is an investment holding company that focuses on investing in and providing early-stage financing to both public and private businesses. Since its original listing with the Canadian Stock Exchange ("CSE") on January 23, 2019, the company has made investments in a number of different businesses in a variety of industries, including the energy and cannabis sectors. As per the company's investment policy, its primary goal is to identify and capitalize on high-return investment opportunities presenting the ability to achieve capital appreciation and liquidity.
PowerTap Hydrogen Capital continues to be opportunistic in evaluating prospects across the renewable energy, bio-medical, pharmaceutical and naturopathic sectors, both as an investor and as an operator. The company's main focus at the moment is to identify such opportunities in the renewable energy industry, including wind, solar and geothermal power and hydrogen and fuel cell technologies, as well as in the biomedical, pharmaceutical and naturopathic sectors, which may include medical or recreational cannabis.
PowerTap Hydrogen Capital currently has 10 investments in a variety of sectors and successfully held nearly C$120 million in investments during the past fiscal year (https://ibn.fm/8oktZ). It returned capital to its shareholders through the distribution of its interest in AgraFlora Organics International Inc. in May 2020 (https://ibn.fm/FRAvq).
Headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia, PowerTap Hydrogen Capital was formerly named Organic Flower Investments Group Inc. As of November 10, 2020, the company officially changed its name to PowerTap Hydrogen Capital and started trading on the CSE under new ticker symbol 'MOVE'.
PowerTap Acquisition, Hydrogen Fueling Infrastructure Collaboration
In alignment with its updated investment policy, a reconstituted investment committee and a revised strategy to reflect its focus on the renewable energy market, PowerTap Hydrogen Capital recently completed the acquisition of a 90 percent equity interest in California-based PowerTap Hydrogen Fueling Corp.
Leveraging an impressive portfolio of IP and advanced deployed technologies developed over two decades via substantial investments and partnerships, PowerTap is working on building and expanding a hydrogen filling station network, initially across North America. The company believes that its platform has a significant advantage over other hydrogen fueling stations, because it has a smaller physical footprint and further has the capacity to produce hydrogen fuel on site. As most other hydrogen fueling stations buy hydrogen for storage at higher costs, PowerTap's model is believed to be exponentially more cost-effective and expandable.
PowerTap Hydrogen Capital's investment and acquisition will allow PowerTap to step up its efforts and begin work on the hydrogen fueling station network in stages, starting with engineering and design, ongoing development of PowerTap's third generation product and, finally, licensing & permitting and site preparation. Development is expected to begin in Q4 2021 with engineering and design. Overall, the initial portion of the project is expected to cost $17 million, with PowerTap Hydrogen Capital and PowerTap planning to secure government financing and credit, as well as equity, debt and convertible debt offerings, to fund the infrastructure's development.
PowerTap technology is already deployed across multiple hydrogen fueling stations in public and private enterprises spanning California, Maryland, Massachusetts and Texas. The company plans to deploy its hydrogen fueling infrastructure at existing truck stops and gas stations across the country, beginning with up to 1,000 stations within the next three to five years. At the moment, there are roughly 70 active hydrogen fueling stations operational and available to consumers in the United States.
Hydrogen Industry Outlook
The project is expected to bring significant opportunities for PowerTap and PowerTap Hydrogen Capital on the fast-growing hydrogen market, driven by a worldwide focus on clean energies and environmentally friendly fueling solutions for the transportation industry.
Hydrogen-powered vehicles come with tremendous advantages over gas, diesel and even electric vehicles in terms of cost per mile, fueling time and driving range, as well as boasting significantly lower emissions. Well-established vehicle manufacturers such as Hyundai, Toyota, Daimler and Volvo are already including hydrogen-powered cars in their product lineups, and Nikola Motors has announced plans to manufacture hydrogen electric long-haul vehicles.
"As an experienced developer of technology in an important area that is finally having its time as a green but also economically compelling energy option, PowerTap is intent on becoming a leading part of the multi-billion dollar hydrogen fueling space," PowerTap CEO Raghu Kilambi explained in a news release on October 28, 2020 (https://ibn.fm/oaXem).
A recent industry report developed by a coalition of major oil and gas, power, automotive, fuel cell and hydrogen companies indicates that the sector is expected to grow to $140 billion a year in revenue by 2030, creating 700,000 jobs in the U.S. alone (https://ibn.fm/UMI5q). According to Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Energy Association President Morry Markowitz, the sector could expand to $750 billion a year in revenue and 3.4 million jobs by 2050.
The U.S. is already engaged in the hydrogen economy, having more than half of the global number of fuel cell vehicles and investing hundreds of millions of dollars a year, but the country can greatly expand its global energy leadership by scaling up operations in the hydrogen economy, per the industry report.
With the upcoming change in administration in January 2021, the U.S. is expected to renew its commitment to clean energy. Moreover, the U.S. federal government is expected to invest significantly in clean energy and related infrastructure, including hydrogen, according to PowerTap.
"As the U.S. federal government has previously invested in the PowerTap technology, we are optimistic that we will have a seat at the table when USA clean energy/hydrogen infrastructure spending initiatives are designed," Kilambi added.
Management Team
Joel Dumaresq is the CEO and interim CFO of PowerTap Hydrogen Capital. He is a proven executive with extensive operational and senior management experience in mining, energy and alternative energy, as well as the cannabis and hemp space. Dumaresq began his career in the corporate finance space, having spent 12 years with RBC Dominion Securities. He brings 30 years of experience in the financial sector to the company, has been instrumental in raising over $250 million in venture capital finance, and he has personally managed a number of successful public listings.
Brendan Purdy serves as a director of PowerTap Hydrogen Capital. An experienced businessperson who has led five different companies, Purdy brings years of experience in different industries, including cannabis, blockchain and data security, gaming, mining and energy, and finance and law. He received a graduate degree from the University of Ottawa and an undergraduate degree from the University of Western Ontario.
Theo van der Linde serves as a director of PowerTap Hydrogen Capital. He is a Chartered Accountant with over 20 years extensive experience in finance, reporting, regulatory requirements, public company administration, equity markets and financing of publicly traded companies. He has served as a CFO & Director for a number of TSX Venture Exchange- and Canadian Securities Exchange-listed companies over the past several years. His industry experience spans the financial services, manufacturing, oil & gas, mining and retail industries. More recently, van der Linde has been involved with future use trends of natural resources, as well as other disruptive technologies.
Raghu Kilambi is the CEO and CFO of PowerTap Hydrogen. He is a seasoned investor and entrepreneur with over 25 years of global business experience in public and private investments, building businesses and creating shareholder value. He has raised over $1 billion of equity and debt capital for private and public companies and been involved in many M&A acquisitions and exits.
