Government hands clean energy firm £86.5m for Sheffield hydrogen factory in latest green push
Clean energy firm ITM Power has secured £86.5million in government backing, with state-owned GB Energy taking a stake in the electrolyser manufacturer. Ed Miliband's Department for Energy Security and Net Zero has handed hydrogen firm ITM Power a £46.5million grant. GB Energy, Britain's state-owned clean energy company, has also invested £40million in ITM Power, equivalent to a 10.4 per cent stake in the firm. Founded in 2000, ITM Power listed on London’s AIM market four years later. The firm designs and manufactures electrolysers to produce green hydrogen, a much-hyped renewable fuel, using electricity and water. Milliband said: 'This investment is the Government's clean energy mission in action - rebuilding our energy security with clean homegrown power and good industrial jobs for South Yorkshire.'The funding package is intended to help support the development of an automated production line for ITM Powers' Chronos electrolyser stack technology. Backing: ITM Power has secured £86.5m in government backing, it said on ThursdayThe Chronos manufacturing line is planned to be built in ITM Power's existing facilities in Sheffield, and is expected to be operational in 2028. ITM Power shares rose 11.44 per cent or 7.37p to 71.77p on Thursday morning, having surged 150 per cent in the past year. The company said the funding package would support the development of a new large-scale automated manufacturing line in Britain with an annual capacity of 1 GW for its 'next-generation# stack Chronos.It said: 'With superior energy efficiency and substantially lower cost, Chronos will help us to further grow our market share, speed up the industrial adoption of hydrogen, and accelerate our growth and path to profitability.'ITM Power now expects its year-end cash balance to be between £210million and £215million, up from £170million to £175million. The firm posted a £45million annual loss in August last year, despite posting a second year of record-breaking turnover. Read More Does the oil price surge make green energy a good investment? ANDREW OXLADE Since getting into power, Labour has vowed to prioritise green over fossil fuel-based energy. But political parties such as Reform UK, have called for new oil and gas licences in the North Sea, particularly since the start of the war in Iran. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero is awarding funding to projects under the Hydrogen Allocation Round programme, aimed at making Britain a clean-energy 'superpower'. The government previously said GB Energy would receive £8.3billion worth of taxpayer funding over the five-year parliament. Miliband said on Thursday: 'Communities have long been calling out for a new generation of good industrial jobs, and with these plans we answer that call, helping to create an economy in which there is no need to leave your hometown just to find a decent job. 'Thanks to this government's commitment to clean energy, a generation of young people in our industrial heartlands can have well-paid secure jobs.'He added: 'This has only happened thanks to months of intense collaboration between Great British Energy, our publicly owned energy company, the government and ITM Power. It is time to make and build things in Britain again, and with this Government's clean energy mission, we will.'Dennis Schulz, chief executive of ITM Power, said clean power increasingly underpinned 'energy sovereignty and resilience'. DIY INVESTING PLATFORMSAJ BellAJ BellEasy investing and ready-made portfoliosHargreaves LansdownHargreaves LansdownFree fund dealing and investment ideasinteractive investorinteractive investorFlat-fee investing from £4.99 per monthFreetradeFreetradeInvesting Isa now free on basic planTrading 212Trading 212Free share dealing and no account feeAffiliate links: If you take out a product This is Money may earn a commission. These deals are chosen by our editorial team, as we think they are worth highlighting. This does not affect our editorial independence.Compare the best investing account for you
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Government hands clean energy firm £86.5m for Sheffield hydrogen factory in latest green push
