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Photo from left: Coenraad de Vos van Steenwijk; Coach | Jasper Baltus; Co-founder Watermeln | Jeff Wezel; Co-founder Watermeln | Erik Schut; Investor Enfuro Ventures
Seed investment in Watermeln
Watermeln raises €1.5 million for deployment of hydrogen generators at festivals and construction sites
At festivals and construction sites, among others, hundreds of diesel generators are used daily to produce electricity. This leads to emissions of nitrogen and CO2. With the advent of mobile batteries, many locations are already becoming greener. However, batteries have limited energy storage capacity which means that at locations without a heavy grid connection, diesel generators are still needed for heavy equipment. In most cases it does not pay to build a connection, or a connection is not available in the foreseeable future due to congestion.
Watermeln provides temporary green electricity for locations with no grid connection or insufficient capacity. They do this with their innovative mobile hydrogen generator; Watermeln 200. The company relieves the customer completely in this process, taking care of transportation, connection, maintenance and monitoring.
The innovative mobile 200 kW hydrogen power generator is developed in cooperation with Accenda B.V. and combines battery and fuel cell technology. Green hydrogen (at high pressure) is converted into electricity which is then delivered directly to the customer. By using a battery, higher peaks can be delivered and there is a higher degree of efficiency.
Casper Heijsteeg, fund manager of the AKEF and partner at e3 Partners: " Watermeln offers us the perfect opportunity to contribute to making building projects and events in Amsterdam more sustainable."
The first hydrogen power generator systems will become available in the second half of this year. In the coming years, Watermeln expects to scale up to larger numbers, with possibly even higher power outputs.
"With investment input and extensive market knowledge from AKEF and Angels, we can make great strides in making temporary power delivery more sustainable."
Jeff Wezel & Jasper Baltus, founders of Watermeln
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About AKEF
The Amsterdam Climate and Energy Fund was established by the City of Amsterdam and is managed by e3 Partners. The fund invests in projects that have a positive impact on energy saving, sustainable energy generation, energy efficiency and circularity. Since its inception, the fund has invested 74 million in 31 projects.
About Accenda
Accenda is a Delft-based R&D company specializing in battery and hydrogen technology. For example, they are the developers of the first zero emission hydrogen electric excavator for contractor company Mourik.