A planning application will be submitted “within three months” for a second facility that can produce hydrogen from waste plastic, end-of-life-tyres and other waste streams using Powerhouse’s ‘DMG’ technology, in partnership with Peel NRE.
Powerhouse says Powerhouse DMG plant will process up to 2t of road-fuel quality hydrogen and more than 58MWh of exportable electricity per day. The first application of the technology will be at Peel NRE’s Protos site near Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, part of a flagship energy and resource hub at a so-called ‘Plastic Park’ planned at Protos. A planning application for the Plastic Park is expected later this year. The park will handle up to 300,000t of waste per annum, and the non-recyclable content will be directed to the Powerhouse DMG unit.
Peel NRE and Powerhouse have now announced that the next DMG development will be in Clydebank, Glasgow. The pre-planning application work has been completed and an application for planning permission is expected to be submitted within three months.
In addition, Peel NRE has signed a Letter of Intent to supply hydrogen from its plastic to hydrogen facilities to Element 2‘s proposed network of hydrogen refuelling stations and it
proposes to develop a hydrogen refuelling station which will take hydrogen from the consented facility at Protos, and will be able to supply up to one tonne of hydrogen per day, sufficient to fuel approximately 40 HGVs. There are also plans to develop a hydrogen refuelling station at the Glasgow facility.
Element 2 is looking to establish a network of hydrogen refuelling stations across the UK, with plans to deliver 2,000 by 2030, and is looking at further potential sites with Peel NRE.
Richard Barker, Development Director at Peel NRE, said: “Protos is the first of many planned plastic to hydrogen facilities in the UK and co-locating refuelling stations will help to kick start the infrastructure needed to support the rollout of hydrogen vehicles.”
Brendan Bilton, chief technology officer, Element 2 said: “Our agreement with Peel NRE to build a hydrogen refuelling station at Protos is a big step forward as we establish the UK’s hydrogen infrastructure. We are a pure play retailer of hydrogen, keen to employ waste to hydrogen and the circular economy as we build hundreds of refuelling stations over the next ten years. We will deploy 800 pumps by 2027 and 2,000 pumps by 2030, helping the UK reach its target of net zero emissions by 2050”.
Peel NRE’s parent company Peel Holdings invested £1 million in Powerhouse in September 2020, as part of the financial raise to provide funds through to commissioning of Protos. The investment agreement further granted Powerhouse access to Protos design materials and other intangible benefits. Powerhouse granted a Warrant to Peel Holdings to subscribe for around 10% of the former’s current issued share capital.