A key figure in the development of the Gigastack project - the South Humber Bank’s green hydrogen production plan involving offshore wind energy - is stepping down from his role.
Dr Graham Cooley, chief executive of ITM Power - the Sheffield company behind the manufacture of scalable electrolysers - will take on a senior strategic role in the company, having led the firm for 13 years. It has seen a huge new factory developed, with major contract wins in Europe alongside the partnering with Orsted, Phillips 66 and Element Energy.
Dr Cooley said: "It has been a privilege to lead ITM Power through its transition from an R&D business to a world leading electrolyser manufacturing company. As we seek to become a global manufacturing powerhouse, now is a good time for me to step aside and hand over to someone with more experience in this area.
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"The whole team at ITM Power has been a pleasure to work with and I look forward to working with a new CEO and continuing my involvement with the Group."
The process to elect a new CEO has begun, and Dr Cooley will remain in position until a successor has been appointed.
Sir Roger Bone, chairman of ITM Power said : "Graham's contribution to this company's growth, over many years, is immeasurable. We are pleased that he has agreed to remain with the company in a strategic role so that we may continue to benefit from his knowledge, wisdom, experience and relationships.
"On behalf of the board, all of ITM Power's staff and shareholders, I thank him for his efforts and vision in helping to create the business we are today."
ITM was founded in 2001 and became the first hydrogen-related business to be listed on the London Stock Exchange in 2004. Dr Cooley joined in 2009. It has spent significant time on research, getting the technology behind the water and hydrogen separation right, before building the world’s largest electrolyser at Shell’s Rheinland refinery in Cologne, Germany.
ITM has recently moved into a new 134,000 sq ft production plant on Bessemer Park in the South Yorkshire city. A further highlight was a £250 million equity raise late last year.
Gigastack focuses on power generated by Orsted's Hornsea Two offshore wind farm, feeding into a new-build facility featuring ITM Power's technology, before feeding green hydrogen into Phillips 66 Humber Refinery to fuel switch from gas, reducing CO2 emissions.
The announcement was made as full year results were published. It recorded a loss of £23.5 million on revenues of £5.6 million - due to delayed delivery of a 24MW project in Leuna, Germany.
Dr Cooley said it reflected "increased costs on committed contracts, much of which was associated with first-of-a-kind plant or technology improvement".
"We start the new financial year in a strong financial position and, whilst there are many operational changes being made within the group, we expect good sales momentum, with further investment into our people, our processes and our assets," he said. "We also see the economic case for green hydrogen projects increasing, with the macro picture expected only to improve."
A contracted backlog of 77MW was highlighted, with continued investment in capability and capacity set to see losses increase in the near term, with an improved position in the medium term. Capacity at Bessemer is to be increased with a further £10 million to £15 million spend.
Dr Cooley added: "There is only one net zero energy gas that can replace methane to help the world address climate change. Green hydrogen can also help to deliver energy security and contribute to food security through the production of green ammonia for fertilisers. These abilities have become very powerful drivers for our business as governments seek to accelerate the share of intermittent renewables in their countries' energy mix to address dependence on weaponised gas supply from Russia. Over the last nine months, as the prices of methane and fertiliser have increased, green hydrogen has achieved first parity and then become cheaper in many cases than producing these commodities from gas feedstocks.
"In and since our last financial year, ITM Power has completed a transformational fund raise, won our first project for green ammonia, further developed our technology and production systems and set out a path that will enable us to remain a world leader in electrolyser manufacture. I believe the next 12 months will see the benefits of our position becoming even clearer as governments urgently address their dependence on methane."
Early trading saw ITM's share price down 24 per cent at 114.43p (10.30am, Wednesday).
Read next:
Fuelling the future - first look at what the Humber's green hydrogen production could look like
High praise for Phillips 66's green agenda from Director General of British Chambers of Commerce
Energy giants Uniper and Shell unite for South Humber hydrogen production plan
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