big win

Houston-based startup secures million-dollar prize after global competition

Revterra was selected from among 10 finalists receiving up to $1 million piloting opportunities. Photo via ADNOC

A Houston sustainability startup has secured a major win on a global scale.

Revterra, which produces novel batteries made from recycled steel, has been awarded a million-dollar piloting opportunity by ADNOC following a global competition.

The ADNOC Decarbonization Technology Challenge, in collaboration with AWS, bp, Hub71, and the Net Zero Technology Centre, sought to find emerging climate tech innovations that are ready for scale.

The contest drew 650 applicants from across 50 countries, and applicants specialized in innovations in oil and gas emissions reduction, nature-based solutions, carbon capture utilization and storage, digital applications, new energies, oil and gas emissions reduction and advanced materials for decarbonization.

At the event in Dubai, Revterra was selected from among 10 finalists receiving up to $1 million piloting opportunities. In addition to the $1 million, they will gain access to facilities and expertise at the ADNOC Research and Innovation Center in Abu Dhabi.

“We are thrilled to win this opportunity,” Patrick Flam, CFO of Revterra, says in a news release. “At Revterra, we have developed an environmentally friendly battery that doesn’t rely on metals like lithium, nickel, or cobalt. Instead, our 2MW batteries are built using recycled steel and rely on rotational energy storage technology to achieve maximum power with a minimal environmental footprint. I am excited to work with our new partners at ADNOC to further develop our solution and deploy it across ADNOC’s operations.”

ADNOC is accelerating the decarbonization of its operations and looks to reduce its carbon intensity by 25 percent by 2030.

“ADNOC is leveraging partnerships and innovative climate technologies to accelerate our decarbonization goals and responsibly enable the energy transition,” Musabbeh Al Kaabi, ADNOC executive director for Low Carbon Solutions and International Growth, adds in the release. “The ADNOC Decarbonization Technology Challenge supports this objective, and we congratulate Revterra for emerging victorious amongst very competitive submissions from around the world.

"We look forward to working with Revterra to unlock cutting-edge solutions that will enhance efficiencies and continue decarbonizing our operations,” he continues.

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A View From HETI

Supercritical Solutions' electrolyzer aims to deliver high-efficiency renewable hydrogen at a lower cost for the industrial hydrogen market. Photo courtesy Supercritical Solutions.

Shell Global Solutions International, a subsidiary of Shell, which maintains its U.S. headquarters in Houston, has signed a collaboration agreement with London-based Supercritical Solutions to advance Supercritical’s ultra-efficient hydrogen electrolyzer technology toward a field pilot demonstration.

In the deal, the companies will collaborate on a paid technology feasibility study that will support the evaluation and planning of the pilot demonstration, according to a news release. Supercritical Solutions’ technology aims to deliver high-efficiency renewable hydrogen at a lower cost for the industrial hydrogen market.

"Signing this collaboration agreement with Shell is a major milestone for Supercritical Solutions and an important step on our commercialisation journey,” Luke Tan, co-founder of Supercritical, said in the news release. “We are directly addressing the cost and complexity barriers facing the renewable hydrogen market. We are excited to move forward with a company like Shell, whose global leadership has been proven to accelerate innovative technologies to market.”

Supercritical’s hydrogen electrolyser technology can operate at high temperatures and pressures of up to 220 bar without the need for an external hydrogen compressor, rare-earth materials or easily degradable membranes. The technology removes the typical compression step in the process while delivering hydrogen at industry standards. It requires significantly less energy than many traditional electrolyzers and is more cost-efficient.

This recent investment builds on an ongoing relationship between Shell and Supercritical. Supercritical was founded in 2020 and was runner-up in Shell’s New Energy Challenge, which helps startups and scaleups develop sustainable technologies, in 2021. Shell Ventures then invested in Supercritical’s Series A funding round in 2024 with Toyota Ventures.

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