Several green hydrogen projects will be developed in the North West of England by a consortium that includes Progressive Energy, a developer and founding partner of HyNet, Statkraft, the largest producer of renewable energy in Europe, and Foresight, an investment manager focused on sustainable alternative assets.
The partnership has a cooperative agreement in place, and it wants to create numerous green hydrogen-based projects Emissions of carbon dioxide will be reduced starting with the first 100MW of projects.
by up to 180,000 tonnes from the industry. The proposed 28-megawatt (MW) Cheshire Green Hydrogen project, which will create green hydrogen using renewable electricity from Foresight’s operated Frodsham wind farm in Cheshire, is the centerpiece of the portfolio. The additional green electricity will be purchased for the project from wind and solar power plants within Statkraft’s project portfolio.
The Protos facility will be home to Cheshire Green Hydrogen, which will provide low-carbon hydrogen through the HyNet project’s anticipated pipeline. The hydrogen may be provided to local businesses, including Encirc, a significant local company that makes container glass, as well as Cadent’s projected Hydrogen Village in Whitby.
A portfolio of green hydrogen projects that are immediately co-located at significant manufacturing facilities in the area, such as those at Pilkington and Kellogg’s, is another goal of the collaboration. For the first phase of development, five “hydrogen-ready” locations have been chosen, and conversations are still ongoing about many other sites.
The alliance will produce green hydrogen at each co-located location using power purchased from Statkraft’s project portfolio’s larger wind and solar capacity. This will be utilized to power manufacturing processes instead of fossil gas.
Each plant will be linked to the HyNet hydrogen pipeline network, opening the door to prospective development to service other industries. HyNet’s salt caverns below ground will be used to safely store hydrogen as well as other locally produced energy, enhancing the UK’s overall energy security.
The North West is the perfect location for the deployment of green hydrogen generation, according to Adam Baddeley, Head of Industrial Hydrogen at Progressive Energy. In addition to being inexpensive to distribute through the HyNet pipeline network, there are many industrial locations that are eager to transition from fossil gas to low-carbon hydrogen.
“Progressive Energy is honored to be leading this partnership, which we anticipate will enable the region’s first significant dedicated green hydrogen generation.”
“Producing domestic green hydrogen is a fundamental aspect of helping the UK move to a more sustainable future and is crucial to the future energy mix,” said Matt Kelly, Head of RES eFuels at Statkraft UK. In order to bring these projects to fruition in the North West of England, we’re eager to build on our recent green hydrogen announcements in the UK and capitalize on the expertise in this collaboration.
The cooperation with Progressive and Statkraft represents Foresight’s second hydrogen investment this year and its first in the UK, according to Joe Davis, Associate Director at Foresight. We are thrilled to be investing in the North West and believe hydrogen will play a significant part in the decarbonization of industry. The HyNet industrial cluster has our support.
