Stargate Hydrogen enters UK market with Seacht Group agreement

Estonian deep-tech company Stargate Hydrogen and engineering services firm Seacht Group have announced an agreement to secure green hydrogen projects across the UK.

It marks Stargate Hydrogen’s entry into the UK market, a market the firm considers having strong potential for decarbonisation through green hydrogen, particularly across industry and energy systems.

Stargate Hydrogen is actively pursuing ways to improve the efficiency and lower the cost of alkaline cells, stacks and systems. They are doing this by building upon the proven aspects of alkaline electrolysis technology and complementing it with breakthrough materials.

This results in a completely new class of electrolysers: ceramics-based alkaline electrolysers, that have high current densities, and high efficiencies, yet contain no precious metals.

According to Stargate Hydrogen, this lowers hydrogen production costs, thereby making electrolysers more affordable for the end-users.

Marko Virkebau, CEO of Stargate Hydrogen, explains: “The UK is a strategic market for us, and we need strong local partners with the necessary experience to support project development. This agreement reflects our intention to establish a long-term commercial presence in the UK.”

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Robert Kelly, COO of Seacht Group, added: “By partnering with Stargate Hydrogen, we are combining advanced electrolysis technology with local market knowledge to help move hydrogen projects forward.”

As part of its wider European growth strategy, Stargate Hydrogen plans to build on this first agreement by forming additional alliances with engineering companies and EPCs in the UK. 

The UK is considered an attractive and stable market for developers and investors in the low-carbon hydrogen sector.

The government has set a target of 10GW low-carbon hydrogen production capacity by 2030, with at least half expected to be electrolytic green hydrogen.

To achieve these targets, the UK has implemented a number of policy and financing mechanisms to spur development.

Among these are the Hydrogen Investor Roadmap, the Hydrogen Production Business Model and the £240 million ($321 million) Net Zero Hydrogen Fund.

The UK government is also introducing a cost for carbon through the UK Emissions Trading Scheme (UK ETS) with the aim of driving demand for low-carbon hydrogen produced in the UK.

Furthermore, the country will provide funding through the Industrial Hydrogen Accelerator Programme for innovative projects that can demonstrate end-to-end industrial fuel switching to hydrogen.