Danish energy giant Orsted, Element Power and ITM Power have won UK government funding for a study aimed at boosting the development of green hydrogen.
ITM Power, a Sheffield-based producer of electrolysers, is leading the Gigastack six-month feasibility study to investigate the potential delivery of bulk, green and low-cost hydrogen.
The funding has been secured as part of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Hydrogen Supply Competition, which looks at ways to accelerate the development of low carbon hydrogen supply solutions.
The project will support efforts by the UK to roll out green hydrogen at scale by the 2030s, identified as a key step to decarbonising sectors that use gas and integrating high levels of renewables, such as offshore wind, into the wider energy system.
Orsted UK managing director Matthew Wright said: “We’ve seen the cost of offshore wind reduced dramatically thanks to industry and government working together, and I hope this project can be the start of a similar journey with green hydrogen.”
The project will investigate the development of a new 5MW stack design to reduce material costs.
The project will pave the way for the deployment of large-scale and low-cost electrolyser systems, with capacities of 100MW upwards, using the multi-MW stacks.
ITM Power chief executive Graham Cooley said: “The Gigastack project seeks to significantly lower the cost of producing green hydrogen by scaling the individual electrolyser stacks to 5MW and the production process to 1GW of electrolysis capacity annually.
“We are delighted to be working on this important initiative, backed by the UK Government, with Orsted, the largest supplier of offshore wind in the UK.”
In July, ITM Power signed an agreement to lease new premises in Sheffield for a new semi-automated factory, in the fourth quarter of 2019 when the building is completed.
ITM Power will lease a new build development at PLP Bessemer Park, which will have an electrolyser manufacturing capacity of up to 1GW annually, the largest in the world. The new factory will produce the hardware for the Gigastack project.
The technology company expects to occupy the building from March 2020 and complete its technical and industrial fit out and transition the majority of its operations into PLP Bessemer Park by mid-2020.
Orsted Hydrogen vice president Anders Christian Nordstrom added: “Hydrogen production by electrolysis is a technology with great potential and this Gigastack project is an important step forward as we look to reduce costs and make green hydrogen a viable solution for the energy transformation.
“It is great to have this support from the UK Government for the project.”