News
Japan Hydrogen Fund inked the investment agreement with GravitHy, a low-carbon iron producer in France
2025.03.26
We are pleased to announce that Japan Hydrogen Fund, L.P. (“JHF”) managed or advised by Advantage Partners Pte. Ltd. or its affiliates (collectively, “AP Group”) signed the investment agreement with GravitHy, a low-carbon iron producer for the clean steel sector. This transaction is third investment of JHF.
GravitHy is based in Paris, France, and is developing a hydrogen based direct reduced iron production plant in Fos-sur-Mer in France. This plant is scheduled for a commissioning in 2028 and start-up in 2029, creating up to 500 direct jobs with an overall investment of 2.2billion Euros. Further it will have an electrolyzer capacity of approximately 750 MW (the biggest in France, and one of the largest in the world) and produce 2 million tons of Direct Reduced Iron (DRI)/Hot Briquetted Iron (HBI) every year.
It is said that the production of iron and steel contributes around 8% of global GHG emissions and the conventional coke-based ironmaking process is responsible for more than 80% of the GHG emissions throughout the entire process of steel production. GravitHy will play a critical role to accelerate the decarbonization of the steel industry with DRI/HBI produced with clean hydrogen.
This transaction is to acquire Series A preference shares of GravitHy and the new investors together with JHF are Marcegaglia, Ecolab, Rio Tinto and Siemens Financial Services. AP Group will support further growth of GravitHy in collaboration with other new investors and existing shareholders.
Jose Noldin, CEO of GravitHy, said “I’m honoured to welcome JHF to our outstanding cap table. Decarbonizing the steel industry is a monumental challenge; one that demands expertise, targeted innovation, and strong collaboration. JHF and Advantage Partners will play a key role in supporting GravitHy as we develop our hydrogen-based iron production flagship project in France. Working close together, we aim to accelerate the transformation of the steel market, driving the adoption of green steel across Europe and Japan.”
Richard Folsom, Co-Founder and Representative Partner of AP Group, said “We are very proud of being a part of GravitHy’s investors, to support one of the most important European “Clean steel projects”. The steel industry is the biggest emitter in industry, and AP Group is committed to reducing emissions in the “hard to abate” sectors. Also AP Group is fully committed to bringing “Japan’s value” to the large European projects though JHF’s network in Japan. I hope Euro-Japan collaboration will be strongly enhanced through this investment.”
Hiroshi Fukushima, Director General of JH2A, said “We are very pleased that JHF is investing in GravitHy, a pioneer in clean iron production in Europe. Hydrogen plays a crucial role in the decarbonization of the steel industry. Additionally, the production of hydrogen direct reduced iron is a field where Japanese companies have strong technological capabilities and we believe this transaction aligns with JH2A’s expectation of Japan interest in many aspects. JH2A plans to support the collaboration between Japanese companies and GravitHy to ensure the success of GravitHy’s project.”
*1 In collaboration for the operation of JHF, (i) AP Group provides investment advisory services and management supports, (ii) JH2A accelerates collaboration between its 477 members and JHF, and (iii) SMDAM provides fund management services and assessment on sustainability and Japan angle.
About GravitHy
GravitHy, a sustainable iron company, was launched in 2022. GravitHy will address the growing market for green, decarbonized steel. It aims to significantly reduce emissions from the sector by producing and using low carbon hydrogen to produce reduced iron. This iron will be traded and used as a raw material to produce green steel. Learn more at https://gravithy.eu/.