ITM Power gains permission to build Beaconsfield hydrogen station

This will be the first hydrogen refuelling station in the UK to be integrated into the existing fuel forecourt, with the hydrogen dispenser under the main fuel forecourt canopy.

The station is also part of the Hydrogen Mobility Europe project, an initiative to introduce hydrogen fuelled transport, and the hydrogen refuelling station infrastructure grant scheme by the Office for Low Emission Vehicles.

It is co-funded by Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking, an EU public-private partnership and the British government.

The company was previously granted planning permission at the other Shell filling station at Gatwick, which together with motorway service areas at Shell filling stations off the M25 at Cobham and the A14 in Cambridge, it has four sites and agreements with the oil giant to build at three of these locations.

Commissioning for the Cobham is currently underway following delivery of the electrolyser and buffer tank to the site earlier in the week, which will open in early 2017.

Jane Lindsay-Green, Shell UK retail future fuels manager, said: "It is another example of Shell's commitment to providing low carbon fuels for the future and we hope will provide further encouragement to other stakeholders to support and invest in hydrogen.

“Shell's experience from partnerships in Germany and the US shows vehicle manufacturers, fuel suppliers and governments need to work together for hydrogen mobility to succeed."

The company also announced that it had signed a sales contract with an engineering, procurement and construction firm to supply 1.25 megawatts of a 50-bar electrolyser unit, which will be used at an ethylene production plant.

Shares in ITM Power were down 1.11% to 22.25p at 0846 GMT.