Groups Have Deal for Green Hydrogen Development in UK, Ireland
A European group that produces and supplies hydrogen has joined with a UK-based renewable energy developer in a deal to build commercial-scale green and renewable hydrogen production units in Britain and Ireland.
London-headquartered Source Galileo, known for developing large-scale offshore wind projects, as well as energy storage and solar power installations, on Jan. 22 announced it has signed a memorandum of understanding with Ireland’s Lhyfe, a major European hydrogen producer and supplier. The companies on Monday said they want to build hydrogen production facilities powered by renewable energy in an effort to support the net-zero carbon goals of both countries.
Officials with Lhyfe and Source Galileo said the companies want to “combine their expertise to generate and supply” hydrogen to several industries, including transportation, as part of their decarbonization efforts. They said they already have plans for multiple commercial-scale green hydrogen production units in the UK.
“We believe the development of a hydrogen economy alongside electricity is critical to the energy transition. Both the UK and Ireland have hydrogen strategies,” said Kevin Lynch, CEO of Source Galileo. “The UK has committed to deploying 50 GW of offshore wind by 2030, and Ireland is expected to develop at least 20 GW of offshore wind by 2040, with an initial target of 2 GW of hydrogen production from offshore wind by 2030. Our partnership with Lhyfe provides an onshore and offshore platform and a major step forward from which to assist in delivering government hydrogen targets.”
Hydrogen Production Targets
The UK government has a low-carbon hydrogen production target of 10 GW by 2030, and wants at least half of that total to come from green hydrogen. Ireland published its National Hydrogen Strategy in July 2023. The country has said it wants to develop 2 GW of hydrogen production by 2030, powered by offshore wind farms supplying energy to Ireland.
Lhyfe in 2021 inaugurated what it considers the world’s first industrial-scale green hydrogen production plant powered by a wind farm. The company currently has five sites under construction or being expanded across Europe. Both groups on Monday said they also are looking for production sites in Ireland and are focused on “identifying consumers and assessing factors such as grid availability, power supply, land accessibility, and planning requirements.”
The companies said the partnership is designed to support “economies of scale [that] can accelerate the rollout of green hydrogen, meeting the increasing demand from companies aiming to reduce their reliance on natural gas and other fossil fuels.” Officials said production initially is expected to use electricity from onshore renewable energy installations, but in the future would utilize power from offshore wind installations situated off the coasts of Ireland and the UK.
Offshore Wind Could Support Production
Source Galileo at present has a pipeline of about 10 GW of offshore wind and hydrogen projects under development in the UK, Ireland, and Norway. The company also is developing battery energy storage and solar power projects.
“With Lhyfe, we are geared towards decarbonizing challenging sectors, particularly industrial processes, through the use of green hydrogen,” said Stirling Habbitts, director of Hydrogen Business Development for Source Galileo. “Hydrogen’s role as an energy carrier will be pivotal in overcoming emerging constraints in current electricity grids, ensuring a supplemental and additional supply of clean energy to industries beyond the electricity grid’s current capabilities.”
Taia Kronborg, chief business officer at Lhyfe, said, “We are pleased to announce this agreement with Source Galileo, which represents an exciting opportunity to drive forward the clean energy transition with large-scale green hydrogen production. At Lhyfe, we are moving at pace to enable decarbonization in our communities and unleash the extraordinary potential of renewable energy across the UK and Ireland. Green hydrogen is one of the key solutions to reaching net zero, and the good news is it’s available to be deployed today, improving national energy security while turbocharging local economies.”
—Darrell Proctor is a senior associate editor for POWER (@POWERmagazine).