ESB and dCarbonX Ltd have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that will allow the companies to evaluate and progress onshore large-scale subsurface hydrogen energy storage opportunities in the UK.
dCarbonX is an affiliate of Snam, one of the world’s leading energy infrastructure operators and Europe’s largest energy storage company.
This follows a joint venture announced by the companies in September 2022 to develop large-scale energy storage projects offshore Ireland.
As part of the agreement, ESB and dCarbonX will assess potential sites across the UK to support energy clusters, dedicated hydrogen networks and ESB’s energy projects.
Jim Dollard, ESB Executive Director, Generation and Trading, said: “ESB has operated in the UK for more than 25 years as a leading independent generator with current developments in onshore and offshore wind projects.
“This agreement with our valued partner, dCarbonX, cements our commitment to exploring and investing in renewable solutions that will help the UK achieve its climate targets.”
ESB has significant UK onshore (1.5GW) and offshore (2GW) wind energy portfolios in development and planning stages and is exploring opportunities for the development of complementary onshore subsurface energy storage, with a particular focus on green hydrogen.
Tony O’Reilly, CEO of dCarbonX, said: “We are delighted to expand our relationship with ESB into the UK which will allow us to leverage key learnings from our Irish projects in areas such as technology, business modelling and operations.
“We see significant large scale energy storage opportunities in the UK given its mature energy industry and favourable geology together with recent hydrogen policy developments.
“In addition, the success of the Crown Estate/ScotWind offshore wind auctions together with the development of Net Zero industrial clusters such as HyNet, should further spur the production and storage of green hydrogen.”