ITM Power : Launch of UK Government Hydrogen for Transport Programme

ITM Power (AIM: ITM), the energy storage and clean fuel company, is pleased to note the launch of the UK Government's 'The Hydrogen for Transport Programme'. In March 2017, the Government announced additional funding to support the development of hydrogen for transport until 2020. The Hydrogen for Transport Programme (HTP) will provide up to £23m to increase the uptake of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and grow the UK hydrogen refuelling infrastructure. The funding competition for the programme has now been launched with an application deadline of 9am on Monday 16 October.

ITM Power currently has £24.06m of projects under contract and £18.22m of contracts in the final stages of negotiation, totalling £42.28m (subject to exchange rate variation).

ITM Power CEO, Dr Graham Cooley, said: 'The Hydrogen for Transport Programme is a further demonstration of the UK Government's commitment to developing a hydrogen infrastructure in the UK as part of its target to eliminate diesel and petrol from UK roads by 2040. We welcome this initiative but note the huge disparity between the funding for hydrogen infrastructure and the charging infrastructure for battery electric vehicles.'
For further information please visit www.itm-power.com or contact:
ITM Power plc Graham Cooley, CEO +44 (0)114 244 5111 Investec Bank plc (Nominated Adviser and Broker) Jeremy Ellis / Chris Sim / Jonathan Wynn +44 (0)20 7597 5970 Tavistock (Financial PR and IR) Simon Hudson / James Collins +44 (0)20 7920 3150

NOTES TO EDITORS:
The new Hydrogen for Transport Programme (HTP) sets out the next steps to develop the UK hydrogen vehicle market, providing up to £23m of new grant funding until 2020 to support the growth of refuelling infrastructure alongside the deployment of new vehicles. The HTP was launched on the 17th August 2017 by the Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV) and will provide funding via an open competition for both Hydrogen Refuelling Stations (HRS) and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. The programme will be supported in two stages:

Stage 1: will commit up to £9m to 50:50 match fund around seven HRSs to be completed in 2018/19, plus captive fleets. Funding will commence in November 2017.
Stage 2: will commit up to £14m to fund up to ten HRSs plus captive fleets and will begin in December 2018, subject to market developments over Stage 1.
The funding will allow additional larger capacity HRS to be built, whilst optimising the utilisation of these and existing stations by providing funding to support the purchase of vehicle fleets that can be refuelled at all HRS.

Important secondary objectives include:
• Maximising the benefit to the UK hydrogen refuelling network, through ease of access and by reinforcing it (some slight redundancy of station locations will ensure that downtime has less impact for the customer), by extending it (enabling vehicles to travel further) and by increasing the density (more stations between nodes will enable more vehicles to travel within an area).
• Increasing the amount of hydrogen used and so increasing familiarity, real-world experience and the economics of its delivery.
• Increasing station throughput, improving the economics of the stations and reducing the likelihood of technical problems linked to idle equipment.
• Enabling future expansion of both network and individual stations, by judicious placement or the potential to add future capacity.
• Ensuring credibility in the eyes of all stakeholders, including government, local authorities, fleet operators, station operators and the general public.
• Enabling, where possible, additional applications that require hydrogen, such as stationary applications or non-fuel cell vehicles, as well as developing the case for expansion of the sector, for example through future links to trains or ferries, or to renewable hydrogen.
• Helping strengthen the supply chain by providing evidence of emerging markets and hence some mitigation against the risk of early participation.

Increasing knowledge throughout the sector, including expert knowledge on performance and failures, best practice, and understanding of refuelling patterns and how to move forward with network optimisation. This will be met within a framework designed to offer the best Value for Money to the Government and hence to the UK taxpayer. The size and placement of the stations will be carefully considered, and also; The strength of the links that new stations have with the fleets to be operated. The likelihood - and ease - of other vehicles using the new stations, and how much hydrogen the vehicles will use and how regular the demand will be. The ability to increase hydrogen capacity and number of dispensers will be taken into account, as will the cost and environmental footprint of the hydrogen.

About ITM Power plc
ITM Power manufactures integrated hydrogen energy solutions which are rapid response and high pressure that meet the requirements for grid balancing and energy storage services, and for the production of clean fuel for transport, renewable heat and chemicals. ITM Power plc was admitted to the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange in 2004. The Company received £4.9m as a strategic investment from JCB in March 2015. The Company signed a forecourt siting agreement with Shell in September 2015. The Company currently has £24.06m of projects under contract and £18.22m of contracts in the final stages of negotiation, totalling £42.28m (subject to exchange rate variation).