27 March 2015
ITM Power plc
("ITM Power" or "the Company")
£2.89m Award for Two New London Refuelling Stations
Siting Collaboration with Major Global Fuel Retailer
ITM Power (AIM: ITM), the energy storage and clean fuel company, is pleased to announce that it has been awarded a total of £2.89m by the Hydrogen Refuelling Stations (HRS) Infrastructure Grants Scheme, run by the Office of Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV). The award is to build two new HRS in London, sited with strategic partners and for the upgrading of four existing ITM Power refuelling stations.
New London Refuelling Stations:
£1.89m has been awarded to ITM Power and its partners to invest in two new HRS in London at strategic locations suitable for Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle (FCEV) roll-out. Both HRS will incorporate on-site hydrogen generation using the Company's PEM HGas electrolyser platform. ITM Power will be working closely with OEM FCEV providers to determine the best locations for siting. The project also benefits from additional financial support of £1.7m which is being contributed by the Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH JU) to provide support for the operation of these stations in the early years. This support is in its final stages of negotiation.
One of the new stations will be built on the forecourt of a major global fuel retailer. ITM Power has recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the retailer to build initially up to three HRS in London and will be seeking funding support for at least one more station. The MoU also allows for further development of the collaboration in the UK.
Refuelling Station Upgrades
ITM Power has also been awarded £1m for upgrades to four existing HRS. This includes the three in London under development as part of the HyFive project and one in Rotherham, just off the M1 at junction 33. The latter will be upgraded from 350 to 700 bar refuelling capability. This strategic refuelling location will allow FCEV users to travel between London and the North of England.
The OLEV HRS Infrastructure Grants Scheme
The strategic rationale for the funding from OLEV was established by the UKH2Mobility project of which ITM Power was a founder member. The project envisages 65 stations being deployed in the UK by 2020. The stations installed by ITM Power and the other station investors under this OLEV programme are the first to be deployed under that strategy. ITM Power looks forward to working with partners from the fuel cell vehicle manufacturers and local, national and European funding partners in the coming years to deploy further stations and achieving the agreed 2020 goal. In so doing, ITM Power will be playing a key role in making the UK an attractive launch market for fuel cell vehicles.
This award comes from the first stage in the rollout of HRS resulting from the UKH2Mobility initiative. The scheme was recently announced by OLEV with £7.5m total funding - £2m available for FCEV, £2m for HRS upgrades and £3.5m for new HRS.
M1 J33 Sheffield Station Update
The ITM Power led Island Hydrogen project, formerly known as EcoIsland and supported by Innovate UK, the UK's innovation agency, has built and is commissioning a 350 bar HRS. The HRS will be located at the Hydrogen Mini Grid at the Advanced Manufacturing Park in Rotherham. The site is off the M1 close to the junction with the M18 and will be an important part of the UK hydrogen infrastructure roll out. Planning permission for the site has been granted, ground works have been completed and commissioning of the plant is progressing well. The HRS will open to hydrogen vehicle users in Q2 2015.
This project represents the first deployment in the UK of the Company's standardised HGas180 platform, capable of generating 80kg of hydrogen per day. The first such unit was recently deployed for a Power-to-Gas application in Germany, operated by RWE. Three identical units are now under construction for deployment in London as part of the HyFive project. The Company now has a number of repeat builds of its standard products allowing several manufacturing efficiencies to be achieved. The HGas180 is the template for further refuelling station deployments in both the UK and the US.
HyFive, UK
Hydrogen for Innovative Vehicles (HyFive) is an ambitious European project funded by the FCH JU under the EU Framework 7 programme, and includes 15 partners who will deploy 110 FCEVs manufactured by five global automotive companies across three European cluster locations. As part of the project, ITM Power is providing three new hydrogen refuelling stations to London for deployment in summer 2015. Each will include both on-site electrolyser systems and 700 bar refuelling capacity. Siting activities have been ongoing both for HyFive refuelling equipment and for potential additional roll out programmes. The three ITM Power HyFive HRS currently being built will also benefit from new telecoms and security equipment. ITM Power has gained planning permission for the first two HyFive HRS, the first of which will be located within quarter of a mile of the A313 and the second within a quarter of a mile of the A40. Ground works are underway at the first HyFive site. The HyFive HRS will open to hydrogen vehicle users in Q3 2015.
HRS Manufacturing
The electrolyser build programme will proceed in parallel with functional and compliance testing due to take place in Q2 of 2015 ahead of commissioning in Q3 of 2015. The build programme will benefit from ITM Power's expanded testing facilities which enable multiple units to undergo factory acceptance testing simultaneously.
FCEV roll out in the UK
The first Hyundai ix35 FCEVs, funded under the HyFive London Cluster, are now deployed in the UK with further roll out expected as the infrastructure provision develops. Toyota has launched the Mirai FCEV and will begin to sell this in Europe in mid-2015.
Dr Graham Cooley, CEO, ITM Power, commented: "The funding for these new refuelling stations in London, coupled with partnering a major global fuel retailer are both important steps in the roll out of Hydrogen mobility in the UK. By the beginning of 2016 ITM Power will own and operate six HRS in the UK, centred on London"
ITM Power plc Graham Cooley, CEO |
+44 (0)114 244 5111 |
Zeus Capital Dan Bate / John Depasquale / John Goold |
+44 (0)20 7533 7727 |
Tavistock Communications Simon Hudson / James Collins |
+44 (0)20 7920 3150 |
About ITM Power plc:
ITM Power plc was admitted to the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange in 2004 and raised its initial funding of £10m gross in its IPO. Further funding rounds of £28.5m in 2006, £5.4m in 2012, £2m in 2013 and £10m in 2014 have been completed. The company received £4.9m as a strategic investment from JCB in March 2015. The Company has now made the transition from a research and development company to a product manufacturer and technology provider. The Company currently has £8.20m of projects under contract and a further £5.79m of contracts in final stages of negotiation.
www.itm-power.com
