UK-based Rivan raises £10M to scale solar-powered synthetic fuel plants for heavy industry
Summary
London-based climatetech Rivan has raised \xa310 million in a funding round led by Plural, with participation from 20VC, Nat Friedman and Daniel Gross (NFDG), and angel investors Patrick and John Collison, co-founders of Stripe.The company is developing modular synthetic fuel plants powered entirely by off-grid solar energy, aiming to address energy security and industrial decarbonisation in the UK and Europe.Rivans solution combines direct air capture (DAC) of CO with green hydrogen, produced through electrolysis, to synthesise carbon-neutral fuels. Until we develop cost-effective synthetic fuels from carbon captured from the air, we cant expect industry to decarbonise.What sets Rivan apart is its vertically integrated, solar-powered production model. All three core components - the electrolyser, DAC unit, and Sabatier reactor - are designed and manufactured in-house at the companys 10,000 sq ft factory in Bermondsey, London. Its modular plants are built to operate off-grid, using falling solar energy prices to achieve fuel cost parity with fossil sources.Rivan is manufacturing vertically-integrated machines in Bermondsey and deploying them to solar-powered, off-grid sites to make carbon capture economically viable and achieve optimum costs and performance, said Taavet Hinrikus, Partner at Plural. With this ambition and Harveys background, Im excited to be a part of Rivans mission to transform energy security and tackle the climate crisis once and for all.Rivan has already deployed a 100kW pilot plant on a decommissioned military base in the UK, producing synthetic natural gas (SNG) from only air and water.