RES-Octopus Energy JV 'HYRO' to swap Gas for Green H2 at factories in UK

HYRO, the green hydrogen joint venture between RES and Octopus Energy Generation, is working with Kimberly-Clark, the parent company of household brands like Andrex, Kleenex and Huggies, to swap natural gas for green hydrogen at their respective UK factories, to reduce emissions and boost energy security. 

The JV claims to work with industrial businesses to develop, own and operate green hydrogen plants using local renewables energy sources. In this latest deal, HYRO is developing electrolyzers to produce green hydrogen at two Kimberly-Clark manufacturing facilities in the UK.

The on-site electrolyzers will use electricity from renewable sources like wind and solar to create green hydrogen, which will be stored and fed into hydrogen-ready boilers inside the factories, replacing industrial natural gas-fuelled boilers. It will create heat needed in the manufacturing processes for tissues and toilet paper, HYRO adds. 

Rachel Ruffle, RES EMEA CEO, commented on the development, "Green hydrogen developed and produced using renewable energy in the UK can provide a reliable, cost-competitive source of power for industrial businesses. HYRO's partnership with Kimberly-Clark demonstrates how we can transition to clean fuels, creating jobs, investment, and a globally competitive economy in the process."

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The two electrolyzer projects in Wales and Kent will have a combined capacity of 22.5 MW, and will reduce thousands of tonnes of CO2 emissions every year for Kimberly-Clark, according to the developer. It will also have UK Government's support to meet the set green hydrogen targets by 2030.

Alex Brierley, co-head of Octopus Energy Generation's fund management team, said, "This deal with Kimberly-Clark means well-loved household brands will soon be manufactured with green hydrogen instead of polluting gas. For heavy industries unable to electrify, hydrogen produced from home-grown clean energy like wind and solar can be a winning solution. We hope more businesses follow their lead to a future without fossil fuels."

Kimberly-Clark's work with HYRO builds on their existing relationship with Octopus to help decarbonise Kimberly-Clark's UK business. The group already has a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) to get supplied with green electricity from the Cumberhead wind farm in Scotland, which Octopus Energy Generation manages on behalf of ORIT.

"These developments represent a huge step towards our ambition to move solely to renewable energy to manufacture Andrex, Kleenex, Huggies, WypAll and Scott in the UK by 2030. A lot of hard work has gone into developing the green hydrogen projects and it's fantastic to see the UK Government selecting them for the funding shortlist", said Oriol Margo, EMEA Sustainability Leader, Kimberly-Clark. 

It is to be noted that HYRO plans to invest £3 billion to build green hydrogen plants in the UK. The company is exploring green hydrogen solutions for energy-intensive industrial businesses with hard-to-electrify processes.