LSE: ITM | |
ISIN | GB00B0130H42 |
Industry | Hydrogen economy |
Founded | June 2001 |
Headquarters | , |
Key people | Dennis Schulz (CEO) Simon Bourne (CTO) |
Products | Electrolysers |
Revenue | £3.3 million (2018) [1] |
Website | www |
ITM Power plc is an energy storage and clean fuel company founded in the UK in 2001. It designs, manufactures, and integrates electrolysers based on proton exchange membrane (PEM) technology to produce green hydrogen using renewable electricity and tap water. Hydrogen produced via electrolysis is used for mobility, Power-to-X, and industry.
The company floated on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) in 2004, [2] becoming the first hydrogen company publicly listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE). LSE has also granted the company a Green Economy Mark. [3]
ITM Power is headquartered in Sheffield within the world's largest electrolyser factory. [4] It also operates from a further two Sheffield-based sites and an office located in Hesse, Germany.
ITM Power was founded in June 2001 in Saffron Walden, Essex and originally manufactured fuel cells before expanding into electrolysers. In 2004, the company floated on the AIM Market raising £10 million. [5]
Its first sale was an electrolyser for the University of Birmingham, UK. [6] In 2011, ITM Power GmbH, the company's German subsidiary, was incorporated.
The company raised £52 million via a second equity fundraise in 2019. This included a strategic investment of £38 million from Linde plc [7] and the establishment of the joint venture, ITM Linde Electrolysis (ILE), to provide green gas solutions at industrial scale. ILE was incorporated in January 2020.
ITM signed a collaboration agreement with Iwatani Corporation of America, [8] a wholly-owned subsidiary of Japan's Iwatani Corporation, for the deployment of multi megawatt electrolyser-based hydrogen energy systems in North America.
ITM enacted a third fundraise, raising £172 million in equity that included a £30 million investment from Snam S.p.A. [9]
In January the company sold a 24MW PEM electrolyser unit, the largest in the world, to Linde. [10] The unit will be installed at the Leuna Chemical Complex in Germany. Production is due to start in the second half of 2022.
In March the company marked its first deployment in Japan with the sale of a 1.4MW electrolyser to Sumitomo Corporation. [11]
August marked the official opening [12] of Bessemer Park in Sheffield. The facility has an electrolyser manufacturing capacity of 1GW per annum, making it the largest in the world to date.
In October the company raised £250 million [13] to expand manufacturing capacity to 5GW per annum by 2024.
Full-year results revealed that annual pre-tax losses almost doubled to £46.7m on the back of £5.6m of revenues. The firm admitted that it has scrapped its 5GW annual capacity target by 2025, now aiming for 1.5GW per annum by 2023. It also scrapped its previous decision to open a second UK factory in Sheffield. It also announced that its CEO for 13 years, Graham Cooley, would leave once a successor was appointed. [14]
In December the company finalised a capacity reservation agreement with Shell Deutschland. The company announced that future production capacity advanced electrolyser stacks would be secured by Shell under the agreement. [15]
ITM Power is currently engaged with industry and academia partners in several projects to deploy its technology and products in existing and emerging markets.
The REFHYNE project aims to supply clean refinery hydrogen for Europe. Comprising a partnership including ITM Power and Shell, it is funded by the European Commission's Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH JU).
Following two years of construction, Shell launched [16] Europe's largest hydrogen electrolysis plant at its Rhineland Refinery in Wesseling, Germany. The PEM electrolyser supplied by ITM Power is the largest of its kind [17] to be deployed on a major industrial scale. The project will investigate the feasibility of introducing similar technology in other industry plants.
In October 2020, the REFHYNE II consortium, which aims to install a 100-MW electrolyser [18] at Shell's Energy and Chemicals Park, Rheinland, secured a EUR-32.4-million grant [19] from the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency.
The project will use 100 megawatts of TRIDENT electrolyser stacks reserved from a capacity reservation agreement with Shell Deutschland, with production tentatively occurring from 2025 to 2026. However, its execution is dependent on a final investment decision. [15]
HyDeploy is an energy trial to establish the potential for blending up to 20% zero carbon hydrogen into the normal gas supply to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. It was the first trial of its kind in the UK. [20]
The £7 million project was funded by Ofgem and led by gas network Cadent in partnership with Northern Gas Networks, with ITM Power supplying the electrolyser system. 100 homes and 30 university faculty buildings on a private gas network at Keele University in Staffordshire received the blended gas during the first phase which ended in March 2021. [21]
The trial was designed to determine the level of hydrogen which could be used by gas consumers safely and with no changes to their behaviour or existing domestic appliances. A second phase launched in August 2021 [22] [23] and is due for completion in 2022.
ITM Power installed an electrolyser driven hydrogen refuelling station (HRS) named Hfuel at the University of Nottingham in 2012. [24] The refuelling station can provide hydrogen at 350 bar to vehicles and 150 bar to the university's laboratory. [25] [26]
In September 2015, it opened the HRS at the Advanced Manufacturing Park in Rotherham, Yorkshire. [27]
Another station, located at the National Physical Laboratory in Teddington, London, opened in May 2016. [28] It was the first of three such stations launched under the pan-European HyFive Project, [29] funded by the FCH JU and the UK Government Office of Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV).
The second HyFive station was opened at East London's Centre of Engineering Manufacturing Excellence (CEME) in October 2016. [30] This station uses a solar photovoltaic array to produce renewable hydrogen on-site for public and private fleets operating fuel cell electric vehicles to recharge.
The third and final HRS under the HyFive project was opened in February 2017. Located at the Cobham Motorway Service Area on the M25 motorway, [31] it was the first HRS in the UK to be located on a forecourt and Shell's first in the UK. [32]
In 2020, the company set up the ITM Motive division [33] to manage its HRS assets. In 2021, the division was established as a separate, wholly-owned subsidiary, [34] owning and operating a portfolio of 12 publicly accessible HRS assets. It is currently the largest HRS operator in the UK. [35]
UKH2Mobility is a government and cross-industry programme to make hydrogen powered travel in the UK a reality. Industry signatories to the Memorandum of Understanding are:
In July 2012, ITM Power, along with four other companies, was selected by the Technology Strategy Board (now Innovate UK) innovation agency and the Department of Energy and Climate Change in the United Kingdom to develop ways of using clean energy on transport systems. [36] ITM's assigned project was to build an electrolysis based hydrogen refueller to be used as transport fuel on the Isle of Wight. [37] The plan is to make the Isle of Wight carbon neutral, by having residents create fuel at their home. [38] [39]
A fuel cell is an electrochemical cell that converts the chemical energy of a fuel and an oxidizing agent into electricity through a pair of redox reactions. Fuel cells are different from most batteries in requiring a continuous source of fuel and oxygen to sustain the chemical reaction, whereas in a battery the chemical energy usually comes from substances that are already present in the battery. Fuel cells can produce electricity continuously for as long as fuel and oxygen are supplied.
In chemistry and manufacturing, electrolysis is a technique that uses direct electric current (DC) to drive an otherwise non-spontaneous chemical reaction. Electrolysis is commercially important as a stage in the separation of elements from naturally occurring sources such as ores using an electrolytic cell. The voltage that is needed for electrolysis to occur is called the decomposition potential. The word "lysis" means to separate or break, so in terms, electrolysis would mean "breakdown via electricity."
The hydrogen economy is an umbrella term for the roles hydrogen can play alongside low-carbon electricity to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. The aim is to reduce emissions where cheaper and more energy-efficient clean solutions are not available. In this context, hydrogen economy encompasses the production of hydrogen and the use of hydrogen in ways that contribute to phasing-out fossil fuels and limiting climate change.
Linde plc is a global multinational chemical company founded in Germany and, since 2018, domiciled in Ireland and headquartered in the United Kingdom. Linde is the world's largest industrial gas company by market share and revenue. It serves customers in the healthcare, petroleum refining, manufacturing, food, beverage carbonation, fiber-optics, steel making, aerospace, material handling equipment (MHE), chemicals, electronics and water treatment industries. The company's primary business is the manufacturing and distribution of atmospheric gases, including oxygen, nitrogen, argon, rare gases, and process gases, including carbon dioxide, helium, hydrogen, ammonia, electronic gases, specialty gases, and acetylene.
A proton-exchange membrane, or polymer-electrolyte membrane (PEM), is a semipermeable membrane generally made from ionomers and designed to conduct protons while acting as an electronic insulator and reactant barrier, e.g. to oxygen and hydrogen gas. This is their essential function when incorporated into a membrane electrode assembly (MEA) of a proton-exchange membrane fuel cell or of a proton-exchange membrane electrolyser: separation of reactants and transport of protons while blocking a direct electronic pathway through the membrane.
Electrolysis of water is using electricity to split water into oxygen and hydrogen gas by electrolysis. Hydrogen gas released in this way can be used as hydrogen fuel, but must be kept apart from the oxygen as the mixture would be extremely explosive. Separately pressurised into convenient 'tanks' or 'gas bottles', hydrogen can be used for oxyhydrogen welding and other applications, as the hydrogen / oxygen flame can reach approximately 2,800°C.
Hydrogen gas is produced by several industrial methods. Nearly all of the world's current supply of hydrogen is created from fossil fuels. Most hydrogen is gray hydrogen made through steam methane reforming. In this process, hydrogen is produced from a chemical reaction between steam and methane, the main component of natural gas. Producing one tonne of hydrogen through this process emits 6.6–9.3 tonnes of carbon dioxide. When carbon capture and storage is used to remove a large fraction of these emissions, the product is known as blue hydrogen.
A hydrogen infrastructure is the infrastructure of hydrogen pipeline transport, points of hydrogen production and hydrogen stations for distribution as well as the sale of hydrogen fuel, and thus a crucial prerequisite before a successful commercialization of fuel cell technology.
Hydrogen purification is any technology used to purify hydrogen. The impurities in hydrogen gas depend on the source of the H2, e.g., petroleum, coal, electrolysis, etc. The required purity is determined by the application of the hydrogen gas. For example, ultra-high purified hydrogen is needed for applications like proton exchange membrane fuel cells.
High-pressure electrolysis (HPE) is the electrolysis of water by decomposition of water (H2O) into oxygen (O2) and hydrogen gas (H2) due to the passing of an electric current through the water. The difference with a standard proton exchange membrane electrolyzer is the compressed hydrogen output around 12–20 megapascals (120–200 bar) at 70 °C. By pressurising the hydrogen in the electrolyser the need for an external hydrogen compressor is eliminated, the average energy consumption for internal differential pressure compression is around 3%.
Power-to-gas is a technology that uses electric power to produce a gaseous fuel. When using surplus power from wind generation, the concept is sometimes called windgas.
Proton exchange membrane(PEM) electrolysis is the electrolysis of water in a cell equipped with a solid polymer electrolyte (SPE) that is responsible for the conduction of protons, separation of product gases, and electrical insulation of the electrodes. The PEM electrolyzer was introduced to overcome the issues of partial load, low current density, and low pressure operation currently plaguing the alkaline electrolyzer. It involves a proton-exchange membrane.
Hydrogenics is a developer and manufacturer of hydrogen generation and fuel cell products based on water electrolysis and proton-exchange membrane (PEM) technology. Hydrogenics is divided into two business units: OnSite Generation and Power Systems. Onsite Generation is headquartered in Oevel, Belgium and had 73 full-time employees as of December 2013. Power Systems is based in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, with a satellite facility in Gladbeck, Germany. It had 62 full-time employees as of December 2013. Hydrogenics maintains operations in Belgium, Canada and Germany with satellite offices in the United States, Indonesia, Malaysia and Russia.
Ceres Power Holdings plc is a UK developer of solid oxide electrolyzer cell and solid oxide fuel cell technology for use in distributed power systems aimed at decarbonising cities, factories, data centres and electric vehicle charging. Founded in 2001, it is headquartered at Horsham in the UK. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange. It is also classified by the LSE Green Economy Mark, which recognises listed companies that derive more than 50% of their activity from the green economy.
The World Hydrogen Council is a global CEO-led initiative of 132 leading energy, transport, industry, and investment companies that seeks to develop the hydrogen economy. It claims to accelerate investment in the development and commercialization of the hydrogen and fuel cell sectors and encourage stakeholders to increase their backing of hydrogen as part of the future energy mix.
Nel ASA is a Norwegian company founded in 1927 and based in Oslo. Nel is a global company providing solutions for the production, storage and distribution of hydrogen from renewable energy sources. Nel is listed in the OBX Index of the Oslo Stock Exchange. As of March 2020, the largest shareholder is Clearstream Banking S.A. with a stake of 44.81%.
Green hydrogen (GH2 or GH2) is hydrogen produced by the electrolysis of water, using renewable electricity. Production of green hydrogen causes significantly lower greenhouse gas emissions than production of grey hydrogen, which is derived from fossil fuels without carbon capture.
Bruno Georges Pollet BSc(Hons) MSc PhD FIAHE FRSC, is a French electrochemist and electrochemical engineer, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, a Fellow of the International Association for Hydrogen Energy, a full professor of chemistry, director of the Green Hydrogen Lab and member of the Hydrogen Research Institute at the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières in Canada. He has worked on Hydrogen Energy in the UK, Japan, South Africa, Norway and Canada, and has both industrial and academic experience. He is a prolific scholar, collaborator, and mentor. He is also regarded as one of the most prominent Hydrogen experts and one of the Hydrogen "influencers" in the world.
Anion exchange membrane(AEM) electrolysis is the electrolysis of water that utilises a semipermeable membrane that conducts hydroxide ions (OH−) called an anion exchange membrane. Like a proton-exchange membrane (PEM), the membrane separates the products, provides electrical insulation between electrodes, and conducts ions. Unlike PEM, AEM conducts hydroxide ions. The major advantage of AEM water electrolysis is that a high-cost noble metal catalyst is not required, low-cost transition metal catalyst can be used instead. AEM electrolysis is similar to alkaline water electrolysis, which uses a non-ion-selective separator instead of an anion-exchange membrane.
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