U.S.-based energy company Phillips 66 and Danish energy giant Orsted have announced their decision to temporarily halt progress on the Gigastack hydrogen project in Britain. They will also withdraw their bid from the funding process, opting to await further supply chain development.
The Gigastack project, situated at Phillips 66’s Humber Refinery in northeast England, aims to utilize renewable energy generated from the Hornsea 2 offshore wind farm, which produces around 1.3 gigawatts. This clean energy will be used to produce green hydrogen to replace some of the hydrocarbon fuels currently consumed at the refinery.
“Phillips 66 Limited and Orsted believe that further project maturation together with supply chain development is required to unlock the maximum potential of this world-scale electrolytic hydrogen project,” stated the companies. “We remain committed to collaborating with the governments of the U.K., industry, and stakeholders to fully realize the enormous potential of green hydrogen.”
Although specific details regarding timing and further development were not disclosed, Gigastack represents the United Kingdom’s primary renewable hydrogen initiative. It is spearheaded by the government’s department for energy security and Net Zero. The project seeks to demonstrate the production of large quantities of low-cost, zero-carbon hydrogen by leveraging gigawatt-scale polymer electrolyte membrane electrolyzers. By significantly reducing the cost of hydrogen production, they aim to create a blueprint for deploying efficient electrolyzer technology across the country.
