RES and Octopus Energy Generation’s green hydrogen joint venture, Hyro, is working with Kimberly-Clark to swap gas for green hydrogen at UK factories.
Hydro’s deal with Kimberly-Clark, the parent company of household brands like Andrex and Kleenex, will see it develop electrolysers to produce green hydrogen at two Kimberly-Clark UK manufacturing facilities.
The on-site electrolysers 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 required in the manufacturing processes for tissues and toilet paper.
The programme has also won a place on the Government’s shortlist for funding of such schemes with the two electrolyser projects offering combined capacity of 22.5 MW to help meet the UK’s green hydrogen targets by 2030.
The news comes as Hyro plans to invest £3bn to build green hydrogen plants in the UK.
Rachel Ruffle, RES EMEA CEO, said: “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.”
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.”
Oriol Margo, EMEA Sustainability Leader, Kimberly-Clark, said: “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.”
Image courtesy of Octopus Energy
