Powerhouse Energy Group PLC (AIM:PHE, FRA:BT81) earlier this week reaffirmed its commitment to its Ballymena-based hydrogen project, with CEO Paul Emmitt confirming that planning applications have now been submitted and permitting processes are underway.
Speaking to Proactive, Emmitt said Ballymena had been a key strategic focus for the past 18 months, offering a combination of local feedstock availability, community and council support, and existing infrastructure at the former Michelin site.
The project will be executed under a design-build-operate model, with Powerhouse seeking dedicated project finance rather than turning to shareholders for funding.
Proactive:
Paul, very good to speak with you. You've secured the site and now submitted planning. Why is Ballymena the right place for Powerhouse’s first UK hydrogen project?
Paul Emmitt:
Thanks for that, Stephen. So for me, Ballymena has been quite a focus of my energy for probably the last 18 months. I think for our first large project, other than the Protos project, we needed something local to us.
Northern Ireland was an ideal opportunity. Ballymena set itself up very well as a hydrogen hub. We've got plenty of feedstock available in the area. There are a number of offtakers available there in addition.
And we're in an environment where the councils are supportive, the locals are supportive. The site itself was the old Michelin site, which means there's a significant amount of infrastructure in the area that won’t need to be put in for the project.
And really, we just see it as another string to our bow. This is a project we can control. Because this will be design, build, operate — whether that's under an SPV or on our own. We won't be going to shareholders for finance. We'll be looking for project finance for this project.
But what it’s given us is — we've got the Australian opportunity, which is a licensing and royalty opportunity, which at the moment is undergoing financial due diligence. That’s helping form what we need really for Ballymena in addition — but what this gives us is something that we control.
So as you see, we've moved very, very quickly from signing the lease into submitting the planning. A lot of work was undertaken previously by not only Engsolve from the engineering perspective, but by local consultants that we brought in through our partner in Ireland, Noage Energy.
We've been pretty much inviolable, to be honest. They've lined up consultants, they've lined up feedstock supplier conversations, offtake conversations. They’re really our eyes and boots on the ground over there. But what this really gives Powerhouse is something to follow. We've got the full control now of this.
We can move quickly — well, as quickly as we can with a planning application — into the next step, which is permitting. We have started that process, but it's a slightly different way of going through that process than it is in mainland UK. So we really are set up and just need to take this forward.
We're in discussion with the feedstock suppliers. We're in discussion with potential hydrogen offtakers. You’ve read previously last year that we do have a partial offtake letter of intent from BS Holdings for a specific Denseness project. That just means we've got this target to hit. We have to keep this now moving forward.
So really, yeah — the start of the year is good news. We just need to keep that momentum running now to get through to the next stage.
Proactive:
The plant turns landfill-bound waste into pure hydrogen. Paul, how attractive is that proposition for councils and transport partners?
Paul Emmitt:
That's the key. So in Ballymena, it's very attractive. They've got a significant amount of waste going to landfill. On the site that we've taken the lease on, there are waste producers sending their waste to landfill. I won’t go into the details because we’re in discussions.
On the hydrogen side — the grid in Northern Ireland is very different to the UK. They were later coming onto natural gas, which means they are set up potentially for hydrogen blending if they needed to do that. So it puts us in a good position there.
Also, there's very little green hydrogen being produced in the island of Ireland — not just Northern Ireland. So it gives that opportunity to be there first.
I think the fact that we have councils in mainland UK sending waste to Northern Ireland — we’re certainly not going to run out of waste. We just need to take the project forward.
Proactive:
Okay. So the key milestones investors should be watching for over the rest of 2026?
Paul Emmitt:
So the key issue really for this particular project will be the first round of responses to the planning application. They will trigger the permit application.
Then it’s just really — we’re sort of in the hands of the gods, waiting for the councils to complete the planning and to complete the permit. But in the interim, we should be seeing that the feedstock and offtake agreements are progressed.
We’ll keep everybody updated as we move along. And really, it’s just a positive start to the year, which we needed after the end of last year, I think.
Proactive:
I hope you'll continue to keep us updated as well. Thank you very much for your time today.
