Powerhouse cops Glasgow docks for second plastics-to-hydrogen plant
The clean hydrogen love affair between waste plastic recyclers Powerhouse Energy and landlords Peel NRE has deepened, with the duo’s announcement of a location near Glasgow’s CoP26 venue for their second plastics-to-hydrogen processing plant.
Rothesay Dock on the Clyde’s northern bank is the intended site of the firms’ 13,500 tonne facility. If approved, it will be the second of the pair’s dozen intended clean hydrogen sites across the UK.
If Glasgow’s planners give their go-ahead, the site will employ Powerhouse’ same proprietary DMG technology as is working at Peek’s Protos Park near Chester. The acronym stands for ‘Distributed Modular Generation’.
The pair’s first Scottish site is five miles along the Clyde from Glasgow’s SEC Centre. There CoP26 climate diplomats representing 197 governments will gather on 1 November, to hammer out a revision of the Paris accords, aimed at tightening obligations to keep the world’s temperature rise below 1.5 degrees this century.
Financing details for the new plant will be released, the parties said, once planners have their say. Last month the duo announced that Powerhouse is extending a £ 3.8 million line of credit to its landlord to boost development of their flagship hub at Protos Park.
Peel Group has its origins in managing seaports, airports, and industrial estates. Hydrogen as a clean source for vehicles, for heating and for industrial processes, is the parties’ long-term play.
At the Protos site, daily output of two tonnes of clean hydrogen from every 35 tonnes of scrap plastic is projected. The company thinks it can sell hydrogen in commercial quantities for £7-8/kg and receive £80/tonne gate fees for the waste plastic.
“Plastic is often demonised”, observed Peel NRE’s Richard Barker. “We do need to recycle as much of (it) as possible….getting as much value as possible from unrecyclable, end-of-life plastic”.
“This (Glasgow) facility will convert plastic into hydrogen, a clean fuel that produces no emissions at the point of use, helping to improve local air quality.
“By co-locating a refuelling station, we can help to kick start the infrastructure needed to support the rollout of hydrogen vehicles”
Powerhouse’s executive chairman Tim Yeo added, “This new facility will play an important role in supporting the objective of both Holyrood and Westminster to make hydrogen a key element of Scotland’s decarbonisation strategy.
“We welcome plans to co-locate a re-fuelling station at the site which will help increase uptake of hydrogen fuel in the region and add to Scotland’s growing hydrogen economy”.
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