Irish-linked renewables developer Source Galileo plans to develop commercial green hydrogen production here and in Britain with French group Lhyfe.
Source Galileo and Lhyfe confirmed on Monday that they had signed a memorandum of understanding to join forces on producing and selling the gas to customers in industry and transport.
The pair already have plans for “multiple plants” in the UK and are assessing Irish opportunities, focusing on potential customers, land accessibility, power supply and national grid availability.
The venture intends to use onshore renewable electricity to produce green hydrogen, which is made by applying an electrical charge to water.
However, the partners say they could ultimately harness the “enormous offshore wind potential in Ireland and the UK”.
Green hydrogen is earmarked as a likely replacement for fossil fuels, particularly for heavy goods transport and for industries whose processes demand lots of heat.
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The Government here outlined plans last year to develop hydrogen production using electricity from offshore wind. The UK has increased its hydrogen targets.
Source Galileo chief executive Kevin Lynch noted that the Republic and UK have hydrogen strategies.
“Our partnership with Lhyfe provides an onshore and offshore platform and a major step forward from which to assist in delivering government hydrogen targets,” he added.
Stirling Habbitts, the company’s director of hydrogen business development, predicted that the partnership would help cut emissions in industries where this poses an additional challenge.
Lhyfe chief business officer Taia Kronborg said the deal represented an exciting opportunity.
“Green hydrogen is one of the key solutions to reaching net zero and the good news is it’s available today,” she said.
In 2021 Paris-listed Lhyfe opened the first industrial-scale green hydrogen production plant to be interconnected with a wind farm. The company has five sites across Europe on which it is either working or expanding.
Source Galileo is building large-scale offshore wind, onshore battery, solar and now hydrogen projects in western Europe. It is headquartered in London with offices in Dublin and Norway.
