Wales & West Utilities has visited a pioneering H₂ production site in South Wales to assess the adaptions needed to transform the gas network to meet the Government’s net-zero targets. The visit to the Protium facility in Baglan Energy Park, Port Talbot, offered senior members of the Wales & West Utilities Executive team the opportunity to see the process of H₂ production in action.

Earlier this year Protium, together with partners, Fuel Cell Systems, Enapter and the University of South Wales, commenced operations to generate green H₂ at the site, named Pioneer One.

Commissioning the Pioneer One site marked a significant milestone in building a network of H₂ generating facilities for the UK’s green H₂ infrastructure and plays host to the UK’s largest integrated electrolyzer—the critical technology that produces low-emission H₂ from renewable electricity. This 100kW technology has the potential capability of displacing 111 tpy of CO₂, the equivalent to planting 4,440 trees or offsetting emissions of 113 return flights from London to New York.

“We are pleased to be working with Protium and are encouraged to discuss potential support for a number of our forward-thinking H₂ projects across Wales and the Southwest of England,” said Sarah Williams, Director of Regulation, Asset Strategy & HS&E, at Wales & West Utilities.

“It has been incredible to see the electrolyzer in action and to understand more about the potential benefits of scaling up operations, like Pioneer One, to help us deliver on decarbonization and net zero targets.”

“What is becoming clearer is the need for rapid development and strategic investment in clean energy sites like this to stimulate the demand and production of green H₂ for business, industry and potentially domestic settings.”

“Our visit to the H₂ production facility has provided added assurances about the future role of green H₂ in delivering a safe, clean, future-proof, and home-grown energy solution.

“It was a pleasure to host the Executive team of Wales & West Utilities and introduce our H₂ production facility in South Wales. We had some great discussions on potential collaborations across several projects for both companies, where green H₂ and distributed production facilities can unlock the delivery of decarbonization and net-zero goals,” said John Constable, Chief Asset and Engineering Officer at Protium.

“Being able to show the technology in action is vital for helping partners and industries to understand how green H₂ can be produced at a variety of scales to suit market needs. Our physical asset is a great platform to enable outreach as well as providing electrolyzer produced H₂ for our local markets including transportation.”

“By meeting Sarah and the team, we gain an appreciation that businesses in all parts of the energy value chain are keen to see how they can adopt green H₂ and use it to deliver a safe, clean future.”