(March 10): Green Hydrogen Systems A/S will go into a restructuring process, the latest sustainable energy company in the Nordic region to collapse, following last year’s traumatic demise of Sweden’s Northvolt AB.

The Danish company, which produces electrolysers that create green hydrogen from renewable energy, has failed to secure the financing it needed to stay afloat and will file a petition for in-court restructuring on Monday, according to a statement.

The failure comes after Denmark’s distressed solar farm developer Better Energy filed for bankruptcy for two units, a collapse that since December has sent repercussions through the Danish financial system. It underlines the difficulties clean energy companies can face despite high-profile financial backers, as seen with battery maker Northvolt, which went from being touted as a European green champion to collapse in a matter of months over last year.

GHS, which counts Denmark’s billionaire Maersk family among its early backers, said it has faced a slower-than-expected market adoption of its technology and the development of hydrogen-related production projects. Late last year, it obtained a short-term loan facility worth 80 million kroner (RM51.5 million) and said it would try to raise 300 million kroner in equity but that process has now failed, GHS said.

Other investors in the company include Danish pension fund ATP with 6.8% ownership, according to ATP’s latest earnings report. ATP also holds stakes in Better Energy and Northvolt.

With the restructuring, the company will “explore whether a basis can be established which allows for all or part of the company’s operations to continue, including a sale of all or parts of the company’s assets,” GHS said.

The company was 2021’s highest-profile initial public offering on the Copenhagen exchange, attracting investors with a pledge to pioneer the field of green hydrogen. The shares had already dropped 90% from the peak before the restructuring statement and declined another 90% in Monday’s trading in the Danish capital.

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