Octopus Hydrogen, part of Octopus Energy, and BayWa’s renewables arm have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to collaborate on green hydrogen production facilities at clean power sites across the UK.
The strategic partnership will see Octopus Hydrogen install electrolysers, compression and mobile hydrogen storage alongside selected BayWa r.e. solar and wind projects.
Initial projects which have been identified within the growing BayWa r.e. project pipeline in the UK will have the potential to produce up to 6500 kilograms a day of green hydrogen, with the first deliveries expected next year.
The hydrogen production facilities will be directly connected to on-site renewable energy generation.
With electricity being a major factor for green hydrogen production costs, this concept is favourable as it ensures low electricity costs for the electrolyser, Octopus Hydrogen said.
Approximately 30-40% of the renewable energy generation will be directly consumed on-site by the electrolyser, the remaining part will be fed into the grid. On-site hydrogen production also avoids potential curtailment of the renewable energy production due to grid congestion.
Octopus Hydrogen will produce green hydrogen to be stored and then distributed to customer sites, offering an “end-to-end hydrogen supply solution”, and supporting the decarbonisation of local sectors such as commercial transport.
Octopus Hydrogen is already working on several projects, including providing green hydrogen to ZeroAvia’s R&D centre at Cotswold Airport, an initiative which is set to deliver some of the first green hydrogen in south-west UK.
Will Rowe, founder and CEO of Octopus Hydrogen, said: “We want to develop and establish a decentralised model for green hydrogen production.
“Our partnership with BayWa r.e. plays an important role by providing excellent renewable sites and the opportunity to share expertise.
“Collaboration helps to unlock the potential of the green hydrogen market in the UK and beyond.”
BayWa r.e. is already involved in various green hydrogen initiatives, such as its SinneWetterstof Hydrogen Pilot Project in the Netherlands.
The company will bring its “valuable experience and expertise” in hydrogen project development, as well as in management of wind and solar sites, to the partnership.
This project is part of BayWa r.e.’s strategy to ramp up its hydrogen activities in Europe and the company is pursuing the development of more than 2GW of onshore wind and solar projects across the UK and Ireland.