French hydrogen producer Lhyfe has announced plans for its first green hydrogen production plant in the UK, expected to generate 20MW.
The proposed facility will be supported by maritime and energy service provider Shepherd Offshore following the signing of a land deal.
Subject to approval of the plans, the site will be located in northeast England on the brownfield land of the Neptune Bank Power Station in Wallsend, North Tyneside, capable of producing up to eight tonnes of green hydrogen per day.
The planning application for this project will be submitted to North Tyneside Council in Spring 2024, leaving the project subject to building permission and a financial investment decision.
The announcement comes 18 months after Lhyfe launched its UK subsidiary, headquartered in Newcastle, aiming to aid companies seeking to reduce fossil fuel use.
Taia Kronborg, chief business officer at Lhyfe, said: “The development of green hydrogen projects is critical if major energy users are to decarbonise their operations. We hope this project will not only help the North East but the whole of the UK reach its net zero targets.”
Bringing Lhyfe to UK hydrogen
This marks Lhyfe’s second venture into the UK and Irish renewable energy markets after announcing its partnership with Source Galileo in January 2024.
Formalised via the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU), the two companies will look at opportunities to couple renewable energy generation projects with electrolysis to create green hydrogen.
The initial focus for the partnership will be on onshore generators with the aim of utilising offshore wind in the future.
More recently, the UK government showed further support for the hydrogen industry by announcing a £21 million funding package allocated across seven hydrogen projects with a combined potential capacity of 800MW.
Four of the seven projects will focus on producing low-carbon hydrogen to create green fuels that will be supplied to various businesses, whilst the other three projects will be centred around constructing green hydrogen sites in Aberdeen, Scotland, the Tees Valley and Suffolk.
These include Suffolk Hydrogen, run by Hydrab Power, which will make green hydrogen for low-carbon service vehicles at the Sizewell C nuclear site.