Lhyfe (Paris, France) and European renewable energy developer Source Galileo (Dublin, Ireland) announced their joint agreement to develop commercial-scale green and renewable hydrogen production units in the UK and Ireland.
The companies have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the goal of deploying production facilities powered by renewable energy, providing a boost to the net zero goals of both countries.
Under the agreement, Lhyfe and Source Galileo will combine their expertise to generate and supply the environmentally-friendly gas to a variety of customers across industry and transport, helping them decarbonise their operations.
The partnership will see Lhyfe and Source Galileo collaborate to establish commercial-scale green hydrogen production sites in the UK, with plans already underway for multiple units.
The energy firms are also exploring opportunities in Ireland, focusing on identifying consumers and assessing factors such as grid availability, power supply, land accessibility, and planning requirements.
By working together, Lhyfe and Source Galileo believe that their economies of scale can accelerate the roll-out of green hydrogen, meeting the increasing demand from companies aiming to reduce their reliance on natural gas and other fossil fuels.
Initially, the companies will focus on using electricity from onshore renewable sources. However, in the longer term, they could harness the enormous offshore wind potential in the UK and Ireland, which would help overcome electricity grid constraints.
Lhyfe’s first green-hydrogen plant at Pays de La Loire has been operating since the second half of 2021, with two more sites inaugurated in Occitanie and Brittany in December 2023. An additional five sites are currently under construction or extension throughout Europe. Since launching its UK operation in 2022 to support regional decarbonization, Lhyfe has established offices in Newcastle and Sheffield. Lhyfe aims to achieve a green hydrogen production capacity of 200MW by the end of 2026 and an ambitious goal of 3GW by the end of 2030.
Source Galileo was founded to accelerate the roll-out of large-scale renewable energy projects as part of the energy transition. It has a pipeline of approximately 10GW of offshore wind and hydrogen projects under development in the UK, Ireland and Norway. The company is also developing onshore battery storage and solar projects.
Green hydrogen can support deep decarbonisation, particularly in hard-to-abate sectors such as heavy industry, including chemicals and steelmaking. It can also be used for heavy transport, including buses, trucks, construction or logistics vehicles, etc. Green hydrogen, produced from water and electrolysis, can also in the long term replace the more than 3000 TWh of hydrogen currently produced from oil, gas and coal throughout the world. The UK Government has doubled its low-carbon hydrogen production target from 5GW to 10GW by 2030, with at least half of this coming from green hydrogen.
Ireland published its National Hydrogen Strategy in July 2023, outlining plans to develop 2GW of hydrogen production from offshore wind farms in the country by 2030.
Kevin Lynch, CEO of Source Galileo, said: “We believe the development of a hydrogen economy alongside electricity is critical to the energy transition. Both the UK and Ireland have hydrogen strategies. The UK has committed to deploying 50GW of offshore wind by 2030, and Ireland is expected to develop at least 20GW of offshore wind by 2040, with an initial target of 2GW of hydrogen production from offshore wind by 2030. Our partnership with Lhyfe provides an onshore and offshore platform and a major step forward from which to assist in delivering government hydrogen targets.”
Stirling Habbitts, Director Hydrogen Business Development at Source Galileo, said: “With Lhyfe, we are geared towards decarbonising challenging sectors, particularly industrial processes, through the use of green hydrogen. Hydrogen’s role as an energy carrier will be pivotal in overcoming emerging constraints in current electricity grids, ensuring a supplemental and additional supply of clean energy to industries beyond the electricity grid’s current capabilities.”
Taia Kronborg, Chief Business Officer at Lhyfe, said: “We are pleased to announce this agreement with Source Galileo, which represents an exciting opportunity to drive forward the clean energy transition with large-scale green hydrogen production. At Lhyfe, we are moving at pace to enable decarbonisation in our communities and unleash the extraordinary potential of renewable energy across the UK and Ireland. Green hydrogen is one of the key solutions to reaching net zero, and the good news is it’s available to be deployed today, improving national energy security while turbo-charging local economies.”