ITM has secured £40 million (€45.8 million) from Great British Energy, a publicly owned UK company, through selling shares. This is in addition to £46.5 million (€53.3 million) from the UK Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ).

The funds will generate a new 1 GW automated manufacturing line for ITM’s next-generation Chronos proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyser. Located in Sheffield, Chronos will set a new benchmark in electrolyser performance and cost, building on processes in the existing Trident stack platform.

ITM has been developing the Chronos stack for over two years. It is an evolutionary design leveraging significant carryover from the already successful Trident stack platform. Chronos is expected to deliver substantial improvements in cost-effectiveness and energy efficiency.

ITM expects the total investment to be made over the next three years and to be up to £120 million (€137.6 million), enabled by the £86.5 million (€99.2 million) UK government support. The target for commercial operations is 2028.

The UK government has ambitious goals for hydrogen. DESNZ, a ministerial department of the UK government, is awarding funding to projects under the Hydrogen Allocation Round (HAR) programme, aiming to make the UK a clean-energy superpower. Through its publicly owned energy company, GBE, the UK government aims to power Britain with clean, secure, homegrown energy.

Ed Miliband, Energy Secretary, 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.

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.

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.”

Dan McGrail, CEO of Great British Energy, said: “With this investment Great British Energy is backing British innovation, technology and hundreds of skilled jobs.

This is our Energy Engineered in the UK strategy in action. We are investing in ITM Power, helping them to scale, compete globally and keep vital engineering expertise here in the UK."

Dennis Schulz, CEO of ITM Power, commented: “We are grateful for the confidence and support demonstrated by the UK government. Clean power increasingly underpins energy sovereignty and resilience, which are critical to long-term economic success against a backdrop of recent geopolitical instability.”