Uniper plans green hydrogen project at UK coal power site

German utility has ambition to deploy 500MW of electrolysers at Ratcliffe site in Nottinghamshire

German utility Uniper has outlined plans to develop a large-scale electrolytic hydrogen production plant at the site of its coal-fired Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station in Nottinghamshire in England’s East Midlands region. The existing Ratcliffe plant, which was commissioned in the late 1960s and has a nameplate capacity of about 2GW, is due to cease operations in September 2024. Uniper’s plan for the site involves the commissioning of 100MW of electrolysers in the second half of the 2020s and up to 500MW by the turn of the decade. The project is subject to FID as well as other pre-conditions, including planning consents and environmental permits, offtake agreements and UK government support.