ITM Power: Funding for Whitelee Phase 1 10MW Electrolyser

22nd November 2021

UK Government Investment Secured for Whitelee Windfarm Green Hydrogen Phase 1

The Green Hydrogen for Scotland Consortium is pleased to announce that it has been successful in its application for funding from the Energy Innovation Portfolio competition run by the UK Government Department of Business Energy Innovation and Skills (BEIS). The Energy Innovation Portfolio funding of £9.4m will support investment for the first Phase of development for ScottishPower’s 20MW Whitelee Windfarm hydrogen production and storage facility. The Green Hydrogen for Scotland Consortium partners are ScottishPower, BOC and ITM Power.

The Energy Innovation Portfolio funding is for a 10MW electrolyser and associated four tonnes of storage, and is the first phase in the development of the 20MW facility, for which a planning application was submitted on 12 April 2021, to be sited at Whitelee Wind Farm near Glasgow, the UK’s largest onshore wind farm. The project forms part of the recently announced contracts backlog (in negotiation) for ITM Power.

The project is designed to provide carbon-free transport and clean air for communities across the city and wider central belt region, with Glasgow aiming to become the first net-zero city in the UK by 2030. The facility aims to supply hydrogen to the commercial market by the end of 2023.

The funding support marks an important step for the creation of commercial-scale green hydrogen production which will ensure transportation and industrial sectors can access zero-emission hydrogen in the transition away from fossil fuels. By using renewable electricity and water as inputs to the hydrogen production process, this clean, green form of hydrogen will be critical in reducing carbon dioxide and greenhouse gas emissions across the economy.

The Energy Innovation Portfolio competition looked for innovative, replicable large-scale energy storage solutions which could provide a market competitive alternative to conventional commercial large-scale energy storage technologies. Innovative large-scale energy storage will play an important role in decarbonising industry, power, heat and transport.

Commenting on the award, Graham Cooley, CEO, said: “We are very pleased to be a partner in Green Hydrogen for Scotland and this first project, Green Hydrogen for Glasgow, will see the deployment of the largest electrolyser to date in the UK.”

Barry Carruthers, ScottishPower Hydrogen Director, said: “Now COP26 has ended, we need to continue to move forward, taking action to invest in the clean, green energy the UK needs to reach Net Zero. As Principal Partner for the conference we welcome this investment in a blend of renewable electricity generation and green hydrogen production promises to highlight the multiple ways in which society can decarbonise by using these technologies here and now.”

Jim Mercer, Business President, BOC UK & Ireland said: “The Green Hydrogen for Glasgow project is both innovative and exciting. It will help to shape the future of energy storage and demonstrate the value of hydrogen to Scotland’s growing low-carbon economy. This project will accelerate development across multiple disciplines – from production and storage, to transportation and end use.”

In the film below ITM Power CEO Graham Cooley provides an outline of ITM Power’s business and the future for the renewable energy sector