Latent Drive awarded £630k for seawater hydrogen project
The trials which are held along the Dorset coast, will be supported by the Dorset Council and hosted by Portland Port. Credit Adobe Stock
The HydroPort project will produce green hydrogen directly from seawater at a cost of $2 per kilogram.
UK-based hydrogen technology company, Latent Drive, has been awarded a £630k grant from Innovate UK’s maritime competition, with aims of expanding its seawater-to-hydrogen technology using the company’s electrolyser stack.
The grant will fund a demonstration trial, fuelling a harbour patrol vessel with green hydrogen, hosted by the Portland Port along the Dorset Coast.
Featuring collaboration with Logan Energy, SALINE Business Services and the University of Exeter’s Centre for Future Clean Mobility, the trials are set to assess the market potential for SeaStack in decarbonising ports claims Latent.
With aims of green hydrogen production at a cost of $2/kg, Latent Drive stated that the technology will eliminate the cost burden for producing hydrogen in offshore wind and space-constrained locations.
Frazer Ely, CEO and Founder of Latent Drive emphasised how the project can help to enhance hydrogen capabilities across the world.
Ely said: “We are grateful for this ongoing government support which will help to demonstrate how our SeaStack electrolyser can revolutionise clean hydrogen production, location and economics – without expensive desalination or rare metals – in a global market projected to be worth $642 billion by 2030″
Latent’s SeaStack is further designed for use on harbour walls, offshore wind turbines, and floating platforms, strengthening hydrogen storage capabilities.
Reports from sustainability advisory firm ERM, state that the UK is expecting to deploy up to 9GW of offshore wind-powered electrolyser capacity by 2040, highlighting the importance of projects to reduce footprints and costs across offshore applications.
ERM further emphasised the sustainability significance of being able to process non-freshwater sources, given that over 35% of the operational and planned hydrogen production capacity is in water-stressed regions.
