(Nantes, France / London, UK) – French green hydrogen producer Lhyfe and project developer Source Galileo plan to jointly install commercial-scale electrolyzers in the UK and Ireland. A corresponding letter of intent has now been signed.
As part of the agreement, the aim is to pool expertise “in order to produce the environmentally friendly gas and supply it to a large number of customers in industry and transport.” When choosing a location, the focus is on factors such as proximity to consumers, network availability, power supply, land availability and planning requirements.
Hydrogen production on an industrial scale
Large-scale facilities are needed to meet increasing demand from companies seeking to reduce their reliance on natural gas and other fossil fuels, accelerating the adoption of green hydrogen. Initially, companies would focus on using electricity from onshore renewable sources. In the longer term, they could harness the huge offshore wind potential in the UK and Ireland, helping to overcome bottlenecks in the electricity grid. Lhyfe opened a UK office in 2022 and set up offices in Newcastle and Sheffield.
Lhyfe's first plant has been operational in France since the second half of 2021, and two more in Occitanie and Brittany were inaugurated in December 2023 (as we reported). Five more European sites are currently under construction or expansion. Lhyfe aims to install a green hydrogen production capacity of 200 megawatts by the end of 2026, and three gigawatts by the end of 2030.
Source Galileo was founded to accelerate the deployment of large-scale renewable energy projects. The company has a pipeline of approximately ten gigawatts of offshore wind and hydrogen projects being developed in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Norway, and is also active in the onshore battery storage and solar projects sectors.
UK: Ten gigawatts by 2030
The British government has doubled its goal of building five gigawatts of low-carbon hydrogen production capacity to ten gigawatts by 2030. At least half of it should be green hydrogen. Ireland has plans to build electrolysers with a capacity of two gigawatts by 2023, according to the national hydrogen strategy published in July 2030. The electricity for green hydrogen then comes from offshore wind farms.
According to Kevin Lynch, CEO of Source Galileo, Great Britain wants to install around 2030 gigawatts of offshore wind turbines by 50, and in Ireland it is at least 2040 gigawatts by 20.
Photos
Lhyfe and Source Galileo are working together to build green hydrogen production facilities in the UK and Ireland (Photo: Lhyfe headquarters in Pays de la Loire, Bouin, Vendée). © Lhyfe / William Jezequel
