Community Energy England today says in a statement that it believes the party’s plans published yesterday “have the potential to transform Britain’s energy system through local action on climate which benefits local people”.

Labour’s promises unveiled yesterday back the party’s earlier pledges towards local energy. They include making targeted energy grants to local authorities from a £600 million pot, and low interest loans made direct to community groups from a pool of £400 million.

The party’s manifesto for 4 July declares “Local power generation is an essential part of the energy mix and reduces pressures on the transmission grid. Labour will deploy more distributed production capacity through our Local Power Plan. Great British Energy will partner with energy companies, local authorities, and co-operatives to install thousands of clean power projects, through a combination of onshore wind, solar, and hydropower projects.

“We will invite communities to come forward with projects, and work with local leaders and devolved governments to ensure local people benefit directly from this energy production.”

In its statement Community Energy England endorses probable energy secretary Ed Miliband’s view that such backing can “kick-start thousands of transformational local energy project”.

“Labour’s Local Power Plan offers grants for local authorities and low interest loans for community energy organisations to do new local, community-led and owned clean energy projects“, the CEE’s statement says.

“Over five years, this could deliver 8 gigawatts of solar and onshore wind – the equivalent of 2.5 nuclear power stations – enough to power 4.35 million homes”.

CEE chief executive Emma Bridge went on, “We welcome the Labour manifesto’s plan to grow our fantastic community energy sector and unlock huge benefits for local people.

“Community energy projects deliver 12 to 13 times the benefit of commercial energy installations. So they are uniquely suited to engage local people to participate in the energy transformation. Labour’s Local Power Plan is a win, win, win for communities, local economies and the country,” said Bridge

In 2021, the Environmental Audit Committee advised the government that “due to the urgency of the climate crisis and the vital roles communities will have to play in reaching net zero, it is essential… to support the long-term growth of community energy across the UK.” Chris Skidmore MP in his Review of the Government’s Net Zero Policies recommended that the government “turbocharge community energy.”

“The Labour manifesto and their Local Power Plan demonstrate that the party understands that empowering people and communities to take local climate action, which will also benefit local people, is essential to achieving net zero.

“We are pleased to see real backing for community energy in the Liberal Democrat and Green manifestos too”, noted Bridge.

“All parties with plans to meet the scale of the climate challenge share the consensus that community energy is crucial for any serious climate policy programme.

“We are disappointed that the Conservative manifesto, despite stretching to 80 pages, does not mention community energy at all. The Conservatives’ manifesto doubles down on commitments to invest more in fossil fuels, including new gas power stations, while continuing to block renewable energy developments”.

Bridge says restrictions on new onshore wind turbines have effectively stopped new ones being built in England, with just a handful of new turbines being built per year.  The Conservatives’ programme as set out in its manifesto would slow down progress towards net zero and cement our dependence on fossil fuels for years to come”.

Personal voting intentions differ among CEE officials, as influenced by the parties’ varying stances in relation to the burgeoning co-operative sector.

This week CEE policy manager Duncan Law shared with a public meeting of south London co-op SE24 Community Energy his intention to vote Green, due to their support for local, accountable actions in response to the climate emergency.

Former Conservative energy minister Chris Skidmore last week told a London solar conference that he was ‘politically homeless’, after he resigned his Bristol seat last year in disappointment at the Sunak’s administration’s foot-dragging over green issues.   The West County former MP told delegates that the future of energy is local, citing the achievements of co-ops such as Bath and West Community Energy.

Outside the activities of its volunteer-run co-operatives, today’s CEE statement welcomes Labour’s pledge to double onshore wind capacity by 2030. It notes that new onshore turbines in England have been held back since David Cameron’s Conservatives introduced a de facto ban nine years ago.

Interest declared:  The present author has for several years invested in and volunteered for several community energy co-ops across London and the South East.

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Diverting curtailed wind power from today’s overcrowded networks and using it to make green hydrogen are a short term remedy, the group’s new report recommends.

Research conducted by Policy Exchange with assistance from LCP Delta finds that in 2022 the volume of wasted wind generation was sufficient to produce over 118,000 tonnes of the green gas, rising to 455,000 tonnes by 2029.

Between 2021-22 congestion payments cost over £350 million. The report calls on Westminster to encourage electrolyser adoption in heavily curtailed areas to leverage this wasted energy and supercharge the UK’s nascent hydrogen economy.

Through modelling conducted with consultants LCP Delta, the report determines that electrolysing the UK’s wasted renewable energy could create enough hydrogen to:

• Take the place of two-thirds of Britain’s 700,000 tonnes of carbon-intensive grey hydrogen used each year;
• Decarbonise the entirety of the UK’s 7m tonne annual steel manufacturing;
• Meet over 90% of the government’s national Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) target for 2030; or
• Deliver two thirds of our electrolyser production capacity target for 2030

Curtailing wind power is costly. Since 2021, LCP Delta estimate power system congestion has cost consumers over £2bn, and in 2022 alone some £210m of curtailment payments were made to renewable generators under contract.

Under annual price-fixing contracts for difference auctions promoting expansion, Britain’s wind fleet is set to grow from 14GW today to 50GW offshore by 2030, analyst Alex Simakov notes. Even with accelerated storage measures, the nation is on track for a fivefold increase in curtailment by 2030, wasting an amount of electricity equivalent to usage from more than five million households.

Measures now underway to ensure transmission capacity keeps pace include planned upgrade connections, siting of more storage assets, and the Review of Electricity Market Arrangements (REMA) regime designed to allocate upgrade costs fairly.

But Simakov worries such plans will take over a decade to fully materialise, and are expected to be outpaced by new power sources.

Britain nascent hydrogen economy could fill the gap, he believes. Between heavy industry, transport including sustainable aviation fuels, energy storage and other feedstocks, hydrogen is expected to deliver between a fifth and a third of Britain’s final energy consumption by 2050.

Even as the scale of its future role in decarbonisation remains unclear, hydrogen’s application for flexible power generation and long-duration storage will need to grow more than 100 times on current output.

While the majority of the UK’s economy can be decarbonised through electrification, low-carbon hydrogen must, says Policy Exchange, also play a major role in achieving net zero.

The sector still faces a chicken-or-egg dilemma, Simakov observes. Heavy upfront costs needed for hydrogen production and transport deter early movers and impose high marginal prices, while prospective end-users are reluctant to invest in hydrogen infrastructure.

Heavy diverting of investment into electroylising the green gas could take up much of the burden, Simakov recommends.

Read Policy Exchange’s report here.

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Deep Green’s business model seeks to recoup the high intensity heat used in running data centres. Its technology means this energy doesn’t go to waste and instead is used to provide free heat for energy-intensive organisations like leisure centres. By teaming up with Deep Green, a public swimming pool in Devon was able to slash its pool heating bill by over 60%.

In return, Deep Green gets free cooling which provides it with a significant competitive edge over traditional data centres. This allows it to offer more affordable, highly energy-efficient computing to businesses across the UK.

Deep Green’s customers require data centre processing for a range of uses including AI, machine learning, video rendering or cloud applications. Deep Green’s current customers include York University, and the company has signed partnerships with industry suppliers Civo and Alces Flight who offer the servers to their customers.

Installed on-site, Deep Green data centres in for example swimming pools, don’t require additional grid upgrades or planning permission so can be up and running in a matter of weeks.

The investment is made via Octopus Energy Generation’s dedicated Octopus Energy Transition Fund (OETF) and the Sky (ORI SCSp) fund which it manages.

Zoisa North-Bond, CEO of Octopus Energy Generation said: “To tackle the energy crisis head-on, we need innovative solutions to unusual problems. By using excess heat from data centres to slash energy bills for communities across the UK, Deep Green solves two problems with one solution. We’re looking forward to them rapidly rolling this out and positively impacting even more people as we drive towards a cleaner, cheaper energy future.”

Mark Bjornsgaard, founder and CEO of Deep Green, commented: “We are thrilled with Octopus’s commitment to support our next phase of growth. Placing data centres within the fabric of society transforms the waste heat they produce into a valuable resource that benefits communities.

“The data centre sector is rightly facing scrutiny about its growing energy demand and associated carbon emissions. Our data centres are highly energy efficient and support local communities with free heat.”

OETF launched in 2023 to scale companies in fast-growing sectors decarbonising society, from heating, to storage, low carbon transport and more. Octopus has also backed ground-source heat pump company Kensa Group through this fund.

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The city’s Blackburn Meadows renewable energy park is home to pioneering innovations headed by E.ON, assisted by Chesterfield Special Cylinders, the University of Sheffield’s Energy Institute  and partners across the region.

The project explores ways to generate green hydrogen, for use by the city’s steelmakers and south Yorkshire’s energy-intensive industries.

Strong desire from steelmakers has been unearthed in the project’s early stages to find a cleaner alternative to natural gas in firing forges and industrial processes.  Operational findings from the trial’s three first manufacturers is that sustainable hydrogen maintains output quality, at the same time cutting emissions by 41.8% against natural gas.  The three debutant manufacturers are on course to save 3,500 tonnes of CO₂ per year.

£1 million of Government funding , from D-ESNZ’s £ 1 billion Net Zero Innovation Portfolio (NZIP) backs the Yorkshire partners’ desk assessment of commercial and engineering needs in generating, transporting and using hydrogen, as well as developing its commercial offer to industrial customers. If that is successful, the next stage will be a technical pilot project at the Blackburn Meadows sewage processor site, on the city’s fringes at Tinsley.  Expansion could follow, if the project is taken forward to a full commercial demonstration.

E.ON leads the initiative alongside Chesterfield Special Cylinders, Glass Futures, University of Sheffield Energy Institute and Sheffield Forgemasters.

Chris Lovatt, E.ON’s UK Solutions’ chief operating officer, said: “Hydrogen will play a significant role in our energy future, mainly powering energy-intensive industries and long-distance transport. It sits alongside the drive for heat pumps meeting domestic heating needs and a greater role for district energy schemes in urban areas.

“The first stages of our trial show the technology works and can support the industry’s needs for alternative fuels as well as Sheffield’s wider sustainability ambitions. We know there are challenges to overcome before this becomes a viable solution for industry but the success so far has been rewarded by further funding from Government to explore the potential of green hydrogen as a solution for Sheffield’s world-renowned steelmakers.”

From Sheffield Uni’s Energy Institute, Professor Mohamed Pourkashanian responded: “We are thrilled that this project has received funding from the UK Government to progress to a second stage.

The work we’re doing for this project at our Energy Institute, including computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) modelling and in-depth hydrogen research, will help bring us a step closer to vital industrial decarbonisation and beyond.

 “It is increasingly important to get the technological solutions we need to reduce emissions right first time, so carrying out these detailed and industry-supported projects at the University of Sheffield Energy Institute means we can test, scale and ultimately implement these alternative solutions as efficiently as possible.”

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HYRO, the power pair’s £ 3 million participation vehicle, has put in an application to electrolyse hydrogen with renewably sourced electricity, and feed the gas into the manufacturers’ paper mill at Coleshill, Flint, near the River Dee.

The carbon-free hydrogen will be burned to heat a new hydrogen-ready boiler, located inside the mill.  It will replace the factory’s current boiler, fuelled by only natural gas.

Kimberly-Clark, makers in Europe of brands such as Andrex, Huggies and Kleenex, announced in April that HYRO will undertake a similar refit at its mill in Northfleet, Kent.

Via a power purchase agreement signed two years ago, Kimberly-Clark already sources clean electricity from Octopus’ Cumberhead new wind farm in the Scots Borders, which began generating this year.

Octopus and RES formed HYRO to foster on-site electrolysis of hydrogen by manufacturers relying on processes feared too difficult to strip of carbon, or who for other reasons find the leap from gas to electric heat too hard.

Today’s application related to the Flint plant follows consultations since April with local stakeholders.

Iain Buchanan, development manager for Coleshill’s combustion conversion, explained:  “Green hydrogen projects are a critical component of the broader strategy to deliver energy security and create green economic growth across Wales and the UK.

Oriol Margo, Kimberly-Clark’s European sustainability transformation boss added: “This development at our Coleshill site in Flint and our partnership with HYRO represents a huge step towards our ambition to move solely to renewable energy to manufacture Andrex, Kleenex, Huggies, WypAll and Scott in the UK by 2030.”

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Developers Carlton Power & partner investors Schroders Greencoat have made the pump-priming mega-commitment, initially centred on three electrolysing sites to be developed in Barrow in Furness – pictured , Trafford Park and Langage, near Plymouth.

All three were shortlisted this spring under the first allocation round of the government’s Hydrogen Business Model / Net Zero Hydrogen Fund.

Through a joint-venture company, Carlton will build, develop and run the plants, with the first coming scheduled for production by 2025.

That date depends on confirmation of applicable government grants, expected later this year.  The duo intend seeking further sites, towards their goal of 500MW by 2030, and making a big contributiion towards Whitehall’s goal of 1GW of electrolyser capacity either in operation or construction by 2025.

The first three projects will supply green hydrogen to industrial and manufacturing companies wishing to decarbonise their operations.  All, say the duo, will have potential to supply hydrogen to local businesses, including hauliers and other transport operators.

Carlton Power’s founder Keith Clarke said: “We are delighted to be joining forces with Schroders Greencoat to develop a significant green hydrogen portfolio in the UK.  Their decision underlines the strength and quality of Carlton’s projects and our team”.

James Samworth, co-head of Schroders Greencoat’s energy transition team, said: “We are aiming for our joint venture to become one the UK’s most ambitious hydrogen investment platforms.

“Hydrogen is a huge opportunity and will play a centrally important part in the energy transition. This partnership provides the perfect platform for us to enter the space, accelerate the development of green hydrogen projects here in the UK, and provide investors with access to this growing industry.”

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Tidal power developer Nova Innovation is heading a consortium to assess rewards offered from selling oxygen and green hydrogen made at their sites on the islands.

Cash from the Scottish government’s Emerging Energy Technologies Fund will assist Nova and partners including Ricardo Energy & the islands’ council, to put a value on local demand for the two gases.

The study has been named the GHOST Project, linking green hydrogen and oxygen supply from tidal energy.

Oxygen is the often discarded by-product when hydrogen is electrolysed from water. It is already used in aquaculture on Shetland.  According to Nova, it has potential to be used by the SaxaVord Centre, creating a 100% renewable rocket fuel.

The £20 million Saxavord space facility, pictured, was completed last year on Unst, Britain’s most northerly inhabited island. Planned launches include small satellites in the UK’s Pathfinder Launch programme.

Alongside space probes, more mundane trucking, local home heating and industrial uses are also earmarked in the GHOST study as local beneficiaries of the two gases.

The assessment will look at potential for tidal energy projects around Yell, one of Scotland’s Carbon Neutral Islands.  Nova Innovation already operates the world’s first offshore tidal array in Bluemull Sound, to the north of Yell, and is developing a 15MW project in Yell Sound, to the south.

Local Shetland enterprises including the space centre, Cooke Aquaculture and Voar Energy will assist in the study.

Nova Innovation CEO Simon Forrest said: “We are delighted to have won the GHOST Project.  Green hydrogen can transform the energy industry, deliver huge benefits for the people of Shetland with heat and transport, as well as creating the possibility of green space flight”.

SaxaVord Spaceport CEO Frank Strang added:  “We are delighted to be involved in this innovative project, which aligns perfectly with our aspiration to create Europe’s leading sustainable spaceport. We look forward to supporting Nova and the team.”

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The UK has world-class participants in the emerging energy source, says a new study from  RenewableUK, but is in danger of losing out to competitor incentives such as EU plans and President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act .

Billions of new investment capital and thousands of British jobs in the breakthrough sector are at risk, policy analyst Laurie Heyworth concludes, unless government offers more generous tax breaks, and funding streams such as the Net Zero Hydrogen Fund & the Hydrogen Business Model are sped up.

The group’s report “Surveying the UK’s Green Hydrogen Supply Chain Capability” warns that the UK stands at a critical juncture, with other countries taking steps to overtake the nation.

The government published its Hydrogen Strategy in 2021, setting a target of 10GW of low carbon hydrogen by 2030, at least half of which will be green hydrogen.

British innovations in low-carbon hydrogen centre on new electrolyser technologies. World-class firms like ITM Power and Ceres have seen their products licenced worldwide, the report notes.

Although only 4 MW of electrolysers are currently fully operational, the UK’s pipeline stands already at 1.5GW, and is set for rapid expansion.

Johnson Matthey director Jane Toogood champions the clean gas in Whitehall.  Her first report in March urged ministers to look beyond current pilots, calling for better co-ordination of planning polices and new duties on grid operators for high-volume distribution.

RenewablesUK goes further.   It calls for a new government-industry taskforce to set out in detail how the UK can reach at least 5GW of green hydrogen by 2030.

New pipelines will be needed to carry green hydrogen both locally and to markets in Europe, as well as underground storage in disused gas fields. The UK must take swift action to invest in this infrastructure ahead of time.

Most green hydrogen will be produced using electricity generated by offshore wind.  A detailed study of how wind can interact with hydrogen producers can led to more flexibility in UKelectricity supply, strengthening energy security.

“The UK has the potential to become a global leader in green hydrogen”, Heyworth writes

“We’re at a pivotal moment at which we can take decisive strategic action, enabling us to seize the opportunity to deliver growth and jobs by developing robust local supply chains in the burgeoning green industry, and creating export opportunities”.

“But the development of green hydrogen has been hampered by a lack of clear policy direction and investment, in comparison to blue hydrogen made from fossil fuels.

“Delays in bringing in vital financial support mechanisms have slowed down our ability to build projects on a scale big enough to act as proof points for investors and suppliers.

“This report sets out how these issues can be addressed, with industry and Government working together to maximise the economic and environmental benefits which this innovative technology offers”.

Read the report here.

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The suggestions are included in a platform of five key policy reforms urgently needed, says the supplier, to ease Britain’s 200GW logjam of clean energy hook-ups, assessed as among Europe’s worst.

Delays reportedly as long as 15 years in connecting new wind and solar farms increasingly frustrate grid-ready projects, MPs on Parliament’s energy committee complained last week.

In a new policy paper, ‘End the Gridlock’,  Octopus’s generation arm spells out steps for greener, quicker hook-ups:

• Queue jumping should be encouraged, enabling wind and solar schemes closest to completion to secure confirmed connection permits earliest
• Weed out older connection offers with no-appeal sunset clauses, so fossil-reliant upgrades plants cannot block the queue
• Taking a transparent, data-driven approach to connections, granting permits within zones defined by evidenced, most urgent need for the most new renewables
• Increase competition between developers in the grid connection process, while at the same time
• Fostering collaboration to share and cut connection costs

Octopus calculate their proposed reforms could speed delivery of wind & solar power equal to the needs of 2.5 million homes, matching current demand from Manchester and Birmingham combined. Lower bills and less reliance on polluting fossil fuels would result, the company says.

The company bases its view on experience from the 13 countries where it operates. Valued at £ 6 billion, its 3GW portfolio of generation assets stretch from continental Europe to Australia and the US.

Zoisa North-Bond, head of Octopus Energy’s generation division said: “To accelerate Britain’s colossal renewable energy opportunity and drive down energy bills fast, we need to connect cheap green projects to the grid quicker”

“The single biggest blocker to renewables is waiting to connect to the grid, so we’ve identified quick wins that can genuinely make a difference today and connect wind and solar farms at pace. If we act fast, we can reduce reliance on expensive, polluting fossil fuels, and jump-start a cheaper, greener energy future for British homes and businesses.” 

Read Octopus’ blueprint here.

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In a letter to energy secretary Grant Shapps, more than 20 organisations including the Heat Pump Federation, the Ground Source Heat Pump Association, Greenpeace & Fuel Poverty Action rebut proposals made by Jane Toogood, the government’s hydrogen champion, in her recent review.

Mixing electrolysed hydrogen into existing gas supplies will, the letter says, ensure consumers will bear the costs of higher energy bills and costs of conversion – on top of the proposed “hydrogen levy” set out in the Energy Bill.

Hydrogen has a lower per unit energy content than natural gas, the campaigners point out, meaning a 20% mix has only 86% of the heat output of natural gas.

Adding to already fierce cost-of-living pressures, the cost of equivalent heat will thus rise by at least 16%, thanks to the more expensive challenger gas, says the letter. Savings in greenhouse gas emissions will be nowhere near 20%, but closer to 7%, they calculate.

The campaigners point to one EU study which claims gas blended into the 27’s grids could raise household gas costs by 16% and to heavy industrial users by 43%.

Carried on the E3G think tank’s website, the letter questions some of Toogood’s evidence, and implies none exists for her claim that hydrogen heat pathways could in some circumstances be cheaper than electrification or conventional heating.

Among Toogood’s recommendations last month to ministers were:

• Tasking a future replacement for National Grid ESO to embrace hydrogen distribution
• Removing planning & investment barriers to deliver industrial-scale projects in hydrogen electrolysis & carbon-capture & storage
• Create a road map in quest of cost savings of up to £ 38 billion to industry spurred by the green gas

But the trade bodies’ representatives question her work, not least how Toogood’s measures would effect government plans to replace 600,000 domestic boilers with heat pumps by 2027.

Ministers should reject Toogood’s recommendation to create a loophole for low carbon heating under the proposed market-based mechanism, with “hydrogen ready boilers excluded from these market share calculations”.

“Since the report itself recognises that hydrogen ready boilers are unlikely to run fully on hydrogen for decades to come”, the letter specifies, “this recommendation will enable ‘greenwashing’ for fossil fuel boilers and prolong the impacts of heating on carbon emissions and air quality”.

The campaigners also notes Toogood’s estimate of hydrogen accounting for 40% of all heating by 2050 is much higher than predictions from Shell or from the Committee on Climate Change.

“A high hydrogen for heating scenario does not represent a strategic use of a limited resource, and could detract from other sectors where hydrogen could play a vital role in meeting net zero, such as power, steel and aviation”, the campaigners tell Shapps.

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With its partners, the Horsham-based firm seeks to assess commercial viability of an industrial scale deployment of its solid oxide electrolysis (SOEC) technology.   Ceres has committed £100 million to its own breakthrough.

The companies plan a two-year demonstration starting next year located at a Bosch site in Stuttgart. The German engineer has been gradually building to 18% its ownership stake in the British firm.

The trial’s objective will be to assess the commercial feasibility of Ceres SOEC technology’s towards making low-cost green hydrogen at scale.  The gas is at the centre of technologists’ hopes to decarbonise difficult industrial sectors such as cement and process-industries.

Ceres’s first 100kW electrolyser module is currently on test.  Promising first results give the partners confidence that the British technology can electrolyse hydrogen at an energy efficiency of less than 40kWh per kilogramme, around 25% better than prevailing lower temperature electrolysers.

Linde Engineering –  whose 150 year heritage includes Carl von Linde, inventor of the refrigerator – has world-leading capabilities in industrial process engineering of chemical plants.  Bosch contributes unrivalled expertise in product industrialisation and mass manufacturing. Together the companies aim to evaluate SOEC technology for large scale industrial applications.

The SOEC programme builds on Bosch’s experience of Ceres’ solid oxide fuel technology (SOFC) and the technology shares the same material sets, manufacturing process, equipment, and stack design.

Ceres’ CEO Phil Caldwell commented: “Our vision is to set a new industry standard for solid oxide electrolysers, leading to widespread adoption in industrial applications.

He went on: “By combining Ceres’ unique technology, Bosch’s strength in scaled manufacturing and Linde Engineering’s solid expertise hydrogen production, processing, distribution and storage, we will establish a partnership that can make our technology even more competitive and prepare it for mass market adoption at scale.”

The news pushed Ceres’ share price 2.8% higher in early AIM 50 trading this morning.

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Launched in 2019, GeoPura seeks to strip carbon from sectors most reliant on diesel to make on-site power, such as construction, infrastructure and outdoor events.

Its mobile, green hydrogen-fuelled generators have made on-site electricity for the National Grid, contractors Balfour Beatty and the BBC, among others. They provided temporary EV charging at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.

Developed in partnership with über-engineers Siemens Energy, GeoPura’s HPU device is built around industrial hydrogen cells.  A standard unit provides 250kW output, 80kW thermal power and 216kWh battery storage, equal to the needs of 80 homes. High-speed EV charging is among possible configurations.

A typical diesel generator rated at 250kVA would emit 960g of CO2 per kWh, as well 327.5g of CO per hour of operation, the firm claims. In contrast, and with water as its only emission, GeoPura says its hydrogen power unit is far quieter than a diesel burner.

At home in Nottingham and from a second plant in Newcastle, the £36m investment will enable the engineers to step up HPU output alongside partner Siemens Energy.  GeoPura plans to deploy at least 3,600 more over the next ten years.  More than six million tonnes of emitted CO₂ will be avoided over their working life, the firm calculates.

CEO Andrew Cunningham observed: “Green hydrogen is too often seen as a technology that will happen in the future.  GeoPura and our partners are delivering a commercially viable technology today.

“This investment allows us to build on our installed base of HPUs and hydrogen production infrastructure to stimulate the green hydrogen economy, and then expand the use of clean fuels into other hard-to-decarbonise areas of our energy system.

Cunningham concluded: “The world can’t afford to wait a decade for green fuels to scale – we must act now”.

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Anja Langer Jacquin, chief commercial officer at depsys, comments, “Utilities around the world have seen how digitalised operations increase resilience and speed up recovery at times of crisis, and underlined their determination to drive the energy transition forward. Here in Europe, the EU Commission has made a green recovery from the pandemic an explicit goal, and utilities will be central to making that happen.”

Depsys’ remote and real-time access to grid performance information enables DSOs to optimise their operations and manage critical energy infrastructure remotely, minimising risk to staff and operations in respect to social distancing measures during recovery from the pandemic, while integrating more unpredictable and decentralised renewable energy resources thanks to greater insight and visibility.

Langer Jacquin continues, “More than ever, utilities need to make wise, informed decisions – and that can only mean investing in data.”

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