In a short press release on December 10, the company said its board had decided to file for bankruptcy.
“The board decision is unanimous and is due to the fact that there is no longer a realistic opportunity to raise sufficient capital to continue operations,” it read.
TECO 2030 filed for bankruptcy of its Innovation Center subsidiary on December 3, after it appeared to have missed payments to its landlord of its planned 1.2GW manufacturing facility in Narvik.
With a net claim of around NOK 22m ($1.98m) against the subsidiary, TECO 2030, which had provided a NOK 10m ($0.9m) guarantee for the site warned it could lead to “significant repercussions.”
Founded in 2019 as a subsidiary of the wider TECO maritime group, the firm set out with large ambitions of powering the maritime sector with its fuel cells.
Having collaborated with AVL on the development of its technology, it had been involved in several EU-funded projects to retrofit large-scale vessels.
In September, TECO 2030 revealed plans to pivot towards overseas licensing and manufacturing, claiming support and demand had waned in Norway.
Chief among its concerns was the Norwegian Government’s change of plans to continue to allow fossil-fuelled cruise ships to sail into the World Heritage fjords until 2032 – four years later than the original proposals.
It had hoped to make the most of higher-demand markets and international partnerships to secure its future.
