Dorset’s local hydrogen economy has taken a huge step forward with the recent approval of the Dorset Green H2 project at Canford Resource Park. The £6.5million venture will be the first green hydrogen production facility in the south west.
Canford Renewable Energy (CRE), a Dorset based developer and operator of renewable energy infrastructure projects, has now secured funding for the facility which will use green electricity from existing landfill gas and new solar panels to produce hydrogen.
Hydrogen is a central part of the UK Government’s plan to reach net zero, and will play an important role in moving polluting, energy-intensive industries and heavy transport like shipping, HGV lorries and trains, away from fossil fuels. Government analysis suggests this clean energy source has the potential to provide a third of the UK’s energy in the future.
The facility at Canford Resource Park, Poole, is expected to be operational later this year and is being funded via a £1.5 million grant from Low Carbon Dorset, £3 million from Dorset Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP)’s Growing Places Fund loan scheme, a £1.7m loan from NatWest and equity funding from Canford Renewable Energy.
Low Carbon Dorset Programme Manager, Heather Kiel, said of the project “Dorset Green H2 is a truly innovative project that really showcases a determination in Dorset to invest in renewable and cutting-edge energy. We are thrilled to support Canford Renewable Energy to jump-start the local hydrogen economy and drive the county forward on its path to net zero.”
Unlike many other hydrogen projects which may use fossil fuels to produce the fuel, the Dorset Green H2 facility will use only renewable energy generated by on-site solar and landfill gases to make green hydrogen, a clean, zero-emission fuel.
It is expected that the solar array will be installed by May 2022, with the electrolyser up and running by October 2022. CRE anticipate high demand for their zero carbon and locally produced hydrogen fuel. And once the project has bedded in, they hope to replicate this model elsewhere in Dorset and across the south west.
Read more about the project on Dorset LEP’s project page: https://www.dorsetlep.co.uk/dorset-green-h2
