French green hydrogen producer Lhyfe and UK renewable energy developer Source Galileo have entered into a joint agreement to develop commercial-scale green and renewable hydrogen production units in the UK and Ireland.
To this end, the companies signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU), aiming to deploy production facilities powered by renewable energy to support the net-zero goals of both countries.
The UK has set its low-carbon hydrogen production target to 10GW by 2030, with at least half of this coming from green hydrogen while Ireland plans to develop 2GW of hydrogen production from offshore wind farms in the country by 2030.
The agreement will see Lhyfe and Source Galileo combine their expertise to generate and supply hydrogen to various customers across industry and transport, helping them decarbonize their operations.
Initially, the companies will focus on using electricity from onshore renewable sources. However, in the longer term, they could harness the offshore wind potential in the UK and Ireland, which would help overcome electricity grid constraints.
Lhyfe aims to achieve a green hydrogen production capacity of 200MW by the end of 2026 and 3GW by the end of 2030. Source Galileo has a pipeline of approximately 10GW of offshore wind and hydrogen projects under development in the UK, Ireland, and Norway.
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.”
Taia Kronborg , Chief Business Officer at Lhyfe, commented: “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.”
When it comes to its operations in the UK, it is worth noting that Lhyfe is working with multinational energy company Centrica to develop offshore renewable hydrogen in the UK , starting with a pilot project in the Southern North Sea.
The French company is also behind the world’s first operational offshore green hydrogen production platform , installed in its home country.