ITM Power PLC (LON:ITM) said planning application has been submitted for the UK's largest electrolyser facility to be built close to the UK’s biggest onshore windfarm at Whitelee near Glasgow.
The application for a 20-megawatt (MW) electrolyser, which will take excess renewable energy from the power network and convert it into hydrogen, is a key component of the ‘green’ hydrogen facility near the windfarm. It represents a doubling in the planned electrolyser capacity and is in response to growing market demand for clean hydrogen.
The facility, capable of producing up to 8 tonnes of hydrogen per day, will be powered by a proposed new 40MW solar farm and a 50MW battery energy storage scheme which are also part of the planning submission.
The proposed green hydrogen project will be led by ScottishPower and located on the outskirts of Glasgow. The project will be engineered and operated by BOC, using wind and solar power produced by ScottishPower Renewables, and incorporate the 20MW electrolyser delivered by ITM Power.
ScottishPower expects a decision on the planning application by the end of autumn 2021.
The project aims to supply hydrogen to the commercial market before 2023.
The Whitlee windfarm is the first site for which planning permission has been sought as part of the Green Hydrogen for Glasgow project. The project is designed to provide carbon-free transport and clean air for communities across the city, which wants to become the first net-zero city in the UK by 2030.
"This is an exciting milestone based on market development for green hydrogen for the city of Glasgow, that will see the UK's largest electrolyser deployment to date being realised in Scotland," said Graham Cooley, chief executive of ITM Power.