Renewable energy firms Octopus Energy and RES have announced a partnership to invest £3bn ($4.1bn) to build new green hydrogen plants across the UK by 2030.

The partnership is evaluating several sites for construction of green hydrogen production but has not made a final decision on any of them.

“We are active on several promising projects. Octopus Energy and RES will be working with offtakers to locate the best options for them,” Octopus tell Hydrogen Economist.

The partners have begun discussions with offtakers in the industrial sector, but no firm agreements have been signed yet. They are inviting other industrial users interested in hydrogen offtake to contact them about supply agreements.

“Our partnership will enable industrial users to make the switch to reliable and cost-effective green hydrogen,” says Rachel Ruffle, CEO of RES.

The £3bn ($4.1bn) is a commitment of capital from Octopus Renewables’ funds. The partners are not looking to raise debt or equity finance from third parties.

£3bn – Investment from Octopus Renewables

“It is anticipated that the capital for this will come exclusively from Octopus Renewables. Octopus' investment will enable RES to develop electrolyser projects along with new renewable energy projects to supply them,” Octopus says.

Octopus Renewables already manages more than 300 solar, onshore wind and biomass projects worth more than £3.4bn.

Octopus Hydrogen and fellow renewable energy firms Innova Renewables and Novus earlier this month formed a separate partnership to build facilities to produce up to 800t/yr of green hydrogen around the UK.

Electrolysers ranging in size from 2-20MW will be connected to 4GW of solar, wind and battery projects operated by Innova. Octopus will design, build and operate the facilities and directly purchase energy from the generation sites via long-term power-purchase agreements.

The UK government presented its hydrogen strategy in August. The strategy sets out plans and proposals to help the UK reach the government’s ambition of 5GW of low-carbon hydrogen production capacity by 2030.

A net-zero hydrogen fund aims to distribute up to £240mn of government funding by 2025.

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Author: Tom Young