ITM Power : BIG HIT Project Fuels Up with ‘Green Hydrogen’ in Orkney Islands

ITM Power (AIM: ITM), the energy storage and clean fuel company, is pleased to note the announcement today, by the Scottish Hydrogen & Fuel Cell Association, of the first vehicle refuelling in Orkney as part of the Building Innovative Green Hydrogen Systems in an Isolated Territory (BIG HIT) project. The announcement is set out in full below.

Building Innovative Green Hydrogen systems in an Isolated Territory: a pilot for Europe (BIG HIT)

The first refuelling of a hydrogen vehicle in the Orkney Islands has taken place using locally produced, renewable hydrogen. The 'Building Innovative Green Hydrogen Systems in an Isolated Territory' (BIG HIT) project has carried out the first refuelling of the fleet of five, zero emission, Renault Kangoo vans equipped with the Symbio hydrogen range extender at the ITM Power refuelling station in Hatston. This is a major first step towards creating a genuine hydrogen territory in the Orkney Islands.

An important pilot project for Europe, BIG HIT is a five-year project, involving 12 participants based across six EU countries, funded in May 2016 by the EU FCH JU. The Orkney Islands of Scotland were chosen for this development because of the need to store excess renewable energy and utilise the stored energy locally for transport and heat. The project therefore represents a blue print for renewable hydrogen deployment for island systems and new hydrogen territories.

The Orkney Islands have over 50 MW of installed wind, wave and tidal capacity generating over 46 GWhr per year of renewable power and has been a net exporter of electricity since 2013. Energy used to produce the hydrogen for BIG HIT is provided by the community-owned wind turbines on the islands of Shapinsay and Eday, two of the islands in the Orkney archipelago.

At present the Shapinsay and Eday wind turbines are often 'curtailed', losing on average more than 30% of their annual output, limited by grid capacity restrictions in Orkney. This wasted energy from the locally owned Shapinsay wind turbine will be used by the BIG HIT project to produce renewable hydrogen using a 1 MW PEM electrolyser supplied by ITM Power. Storing excess renewable energy as renewable hydrogen in this way increases the utilisation of the installed wind capacity without the need to reinforce the grid connection.

Commenting on the BIG HIT announcement, Dr Graham Cooley, CEO of ITM Power said: 'The Orkney Islands are the ideal test bed for the creation of a fully-fledged hydrogen territory with hydrogen produced and used sustainably. We are pleased to have helped develop the project and that ITM Power's equipment is part of this important European initiative.'

Fabio Ferrari, CEO of Symbio, added: 'BIG HIT is demonstrating the huge value of a full 'Hydrogen Valley' ecosystem, a comprehensive environmental-friendly value chain that provides energy independence, cogeneration of renewable heat and electricity, as well as zero emission solutions for sustainable mobility and transportation.'

BIG HIT builds on foundations laid by the Orkney Surf 'n' Turf initiative, which has established production of hydrogen on the island of Eday using wind and tidal energy. BIG HIT and Surf 'n' Turf are both recognised as world leading pilot and demonstration projects, which put in place a fully integrated model of hydrogen production, storage, transportation and utilisation for low carbon heat, power and transport. These projects have successfully address a number of operational and development challenges including the logistical and regulatory aspects for transport of hydrogen fuel between islands, and the orientation and familiarisation with new hydrogen building and transport technologies.

The local authority partner in BIG HIT is Orkney Islands Council, providing local input together with the Shapinsay Development Trust (SDT), Community Energy Scotland (CES), and the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC). Calvera, Giacomini, ITM Power, and Symbio are the industry partners providing equipment and technical expertise. Technical University of Denmark (DTU) is the technical partner and the Scottish Hydrogen & Fuel Cell Association (SHFCA) is dissemination partner. The Ministry for Transport and Infrastructure (MTI) represents Malta as the lead follower territory for project replication. The overall BIG HIT project coordinator is Fundación Hidrógeno Aragón (FHA, The Foundation for the Development of New Hydrogen Technologies in Aragon).

Orkney Islands Council has taken a leading role in the BIG HIT project, by purchasing 5 electric vans which have each been fitted with a hydrogen fuel cell by Symbio to provide twice the normal operational range. These adapted Renault Kangoo vans are part of the Council's operational fleet, and the hydrogen fuel cells give these them a wider range than their battery-powered electric counterparts.

Shapinsay Development Trust works to secure the future of the resilient island community of about 300 people in Shapinsay, one of the many inhabited islands in the Orkney archipelago. Shapinsay islanders are empowered and resourced by the efforts of the Trust in whose work many of them are intimately involved as trustees, volunteers or employees.

Community Energy Scotland (CES) is a registered Scottish charity and has been at the forefront of community energy developments in Scotland. CES has been leading the Surf 'n' Turf project which is work closely with BIG HIT on areas such as hydrogen logistics.

European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) is the first and only centre in the world to provide developers of both wave and tidal energy converters with purpose-built open-sea testing facilities, and also is host to the Surf 'n' Turf project funded by the Scottish Government's Local Energy Challenge Fund.

Calvera specialises in the manufacture of storage and transport systems for compressed gas, and particularly Hydrogen for high pressure. The company has provided bespoke systems for 30 years to industrial and medical gas companies, and provides turnkey solutions including European approvals. In addition, the company maintains and refurbishes gas transport systems.

Giacomini is a leader in the field of components for heating and cooling, and has been involved for more than 10 years in the field of hydrogen as renewable energy source using an innovative condensing boiler based on a hydrogen catalytic burner.

ITM Power is an energy storage and clean fuel company, committed to clean sustainable energy solutions based on water electrolysis using Polymer-Electrolyte-Membrane (PEM) technologies. ITM Power will be providing the project's electrolysis, the hydrogen refuelling station and will be conducting much of the safety analysis.

Symbio is a European leading parts manufacturer, specialized in hydrogen fuel cell kits that can be incorporated into various types of electric vehicles and are associated with a range of digital services.

Danmarks Tekniske Universitet (Technical University of Denmark, DTU) is one of Europe's foremost technical universities with world class expertise in fuel cells, electrolysis, hydrogen storage and related technologies.

Scottish Hydrogen & Fuel Cell Association (SHFCA) is the sector body for the development and deployment of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies in Scotland.

The Ministry for Transport and Infrastructure (MTI) promotes and develops the transport sector in Malta by means of proper regulation and by the promotion and development of related services, businesses and other interests, both locally and internationally.

The Foundation for the Development of New Hydrogen Technologies in Aragon (FHa) is a non-profit private entity founded in 2003 to carry out the organization, management and deployment of a wide range of actions with the purpose of promoting the use of the hydrogen as an energy vector. Based in Huesca, Spain, its team of experienced professionals performs R&D as well as consultancy projects, in cooperation or assisting local, national and international companies, contributing to their industrial modernization and to improve their competitiveness.

About the FCH JU. The Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking is a unique public-private partnership supporting research, technological development and demonstration activities in fuel cell and hydrogen energy technologies in Europe. Its aim is to accelerate the market introduction of these technologies, realising their potential as an instrument in achieving a carbon-lean energy system. The three members of the FCH JU are the European commission; the fuel cell and hydrogen industries, represented by Hydrogen Europe; and the research community, represented by research grouping Hydrogen Europe Research.

The BIG HIT project has received funding from the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen 2 Joint Undertaking under grant agreement No. 700092. This Joint Undertaking receives support from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, Hydrogen Europe and Hydrogen Europe research. The FCH 2 JU selected BIG HIT as the only hydrogen project of its kind to receive funding in 2016, and €5 million has been allocated to the project, which has total estimated costs of €10.9 million. For more information about BIG HIT see https://www.bighit.eu/

For further information please visit www.itm-power.com or contact:

ITM Power plc
Andy Allen, CFO
+44 (0)114 244 5111

Investec Bank plc (Nominated Adviser and Broker)
Jeremy Ellis / Chris Sim / Alexander Ruffman
+44 (0)20 7597 5970

Tavistock (Financial PR and IR)
Simon Hudson / James Collins
+44 (0)20 7920 3150

About ITM Power plc
ITM Power manufactures integrated hydrogen energy solutions for grid balancing, energy storage and the production of green hydrogen for transport, renewable heat and chemicals. ITM Power was admitted to the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange in 2004. In September 2017 the Company announced the completion of a GBP29.4m working capital fundraise. The Company signed a forecourt siting agreement with Shell for hydrogen refuelling stations in September 2015 and subsequently a deal to deploy a 10MW electrolyser at Shell's Rhineland refinery. Additional customers include National Grid, RWE, Engie, BOC Linde, Toyota, Honda, Hyundai, Anglo American among others. The Company's order pipeline stands at £33.6m of projects under contract and £6.4m of contracts in the final stages of negotiation, totaling £40.0m (subject to exchange rate variation).

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