UK electrolyser manufacturer ITM Power expects the 1GW/yr production capacity at its Bessemer Park facility to be utilised earlier than originally envisioned as demand for green hydrogen accelerates.

The facility was completed in January and opened by business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng in August as he launched the UK government’s hydrogen strategy.

Combined national electrolyser targets had increased by the end of the last decade, rising from a targeted 40GW to 144GW by 2035. The scale of this demand underpinned the group’s decision to invest in a step change in capacity at Bessemer Park. 

“In the event, the new 1GW per annum capacity is likely to be fully utilised earlier than originally envisioned, as evidenced by tendering activity and ITM Power’s backlog of firm orders,” says ITM chairman Roger Bone.

“The new 1GW per annum capacity is likely to be fully utilised earlier than originally envisioned” Bone, ITM Power

The company has entered a strategic partnership with industrial gases firm Linde, which will provide engineering, procurement and construction services for the joint venture.

ITM Linde Electrolysis will build a 24MW electrolyser to supply green hydrogen to Linde’s industrial customers around the Leuna chemical complex in Germany.

Linde has the largest liquid hydrogen capacity and distribution system in the world, with 200 hydrogen fuelling stations and 80 hydrogen electrolysis plants worldwide.

ITM also has a commercial partnership agreement with Italian energy infrastructure firm Snam that includes preferred supplier status for the first 100MW of Snam’s proton-exchange-membrane electrolyser orders for delivery by 2025.

ITM continues to roll out a network of hydrogen refuelling stations in the UK, and a strategic partnership has been established to create new green hydrogen production facilities with clusters of refuelling stations across Scotland.

Next year, the firm will spin off its refuelling station portfolio into a separate but wholly owned subsidiary called ITM Motive.

Sales revenues were up 30pc on an annual basis for the 2021 financial year, to £4.28mn ($5.94mn), predominantly from two major projects—an electrolyser build for Shell at it Rhineland Refinery in Germany and a design and proof of concept project commissioned by the UK government.

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Author: Tom Young