Meld Energy seeks government grant for green hydrogen plant

A British energy start-up backed by a large American fuels company wants to build one of Britains biggest green hydrogen plants near Hull.

Meld Energy is seeking grant funding from the government to conduct early development and design work on the proposed £180 million plant. It has signed an agreement to build the facility at the Saltend Chemicals Park, owned by px Group, and says it could be operational by 2027.

Green hydrogen is produced with zero emissions by using renewable electricity to power electrolysis, splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen. Hydrogen, which burns cleanly, then can be used as a green alternative to fossil fuels, especially in industries that are hard to decarbonise through electrification. Green hydrogen production is in its infancy in Britain, but the government is seeking to accelerate it.

It is holding competitions to award funding to support the production of both green and blue hydrogen, which is produced with low emissions by processing natural gas and capturing most of the waste carbon dioxide.

Meld Energy, based in Surrey, was founded in 2020 by a former executive at GE and is focused on green hydrogen solutions. This year it said it had sold a 50 per cent stake to World Kinect Sustainability Ventures, part of World Fuel Services Corporation, a New York-listed group valued at about $1.5 billion.

Meld has applied for grant funding from the government’s Net Zero Hydrogen Fund and will begin work in November if successful.

Geoff Holmes said, “Meld’s plans are on a scale that will make a significant impact on domestic decarbonisation. It is a project that the government should find impossible to ignore.