Plans for green hydrogen plant in Ireland

MERCURY Renewables has announced plans for a €200m (US$226m) green hydrogen facility in Mayo, Ireland.

Mercury Renewables has been working with Dublin City University and MaREI – the Research Centre for Energy, Climate and Marine, coordinated by the Environmental Research Institute at University College Cork – on a feasibility study to assess the use of green hydrogen in the transport sector. Mercury has now announced plans to build a facility, which will be known as Firlough, in north-east Mayo. The electrolyser will be powered by an on-site windfarm consisting of 13 wind turbines, according to RTÉ.

John Duffy, CEO of Mercury Renewables, said: "We see huge possibilities for this project to attract industry and inward investment to the nearby towns and businesses. Our focus is on decarbonising the transportation sector, however, green hydrogen can also be used to provide baseload renewable energy when the wind isn’t blowing.”

“We see the hydrogen electrolyser as providing the people of County Mayo with the prospect of obtaining skills in an industry that is expected to see significant growth across the globe. We have an opportunity to build a regional centre of excellence around the technical skills required to install and operate a green hydrogen electrolyser directly connected to a wind farm.”

The facility is expected to be completed by early 2025.