ITM Power hydrogen consortium awarded European grant

Energy storage and clean fuel technology company ITM Power announced on Friday that the ‘Refhyne II’ consortium had been awarded a grant of €32.4m (£27.49m) by the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency ‘CINEA’ for the development of a 100 MW electrolyser at Shell's Energy and Chemicals Park in Germany’s Rhineland.

The AIM-traded firm said the consortium comprised Shell Deutschland, ITM Power and its Germany subsidiary, Linde Engineering, ITM Linde Electrolysis, Fundacion Tecnalia Research and Innovation, Element Energy and Concawe, and was coordinated by Sintef.

It said Refhyne II was the follow-on project to the 10 MW Refhyne I, which is Europe's largest PEM hydrogen electrolyser that began operations in July with support from the European Commission's Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking.

Refhyne I uses renewable electricity to produce up to 1,300 tonnes of green hydrogen each year, which would initially be used to produce fuels with lower carbon intensity.

The green hydrogen would also be used to help decarbonise other industries.

ITM Power said the Rhineland site, near Cologne, was where Shell intended to produce sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) using renewable power and biomass in the future.

The 100 MW Refhyne II project would see an engineering design phase, which would be followed by a final investment decision in late 2022, with delivery scheduled for 2024.

ITM said the project had received funding from the European Union's ‘Horizon 2020’ research and innovation programme.

“Having successfully delivered the 10 MW Refhyne I project, the consortium partners will take the experience and learning they have gained to scale up tenfold for Refhyne II,” said chief executive officer Graham Cooley.

“This is a world leading project that demonstrates the increasing commitment by governments and industry to decarbonise, at scale, using zero carbon footprint green hydrogen.

“We are delighted to be a part of it.”

At 1059 BST, shares in ITM Power were up 3.05% at 395.11p.