Protium, a UK-based green hydrogen energy company, has announced the construction of its second hydrogen production facility in South Wales. Known as ‘Pioneer 2,’ the new facility is a significant step forward in Protium’s mission to deliver reliable, scalable green hydrogen energy across the UK.
The new facility builds on the success of Protium’s existing Pioneer 1 site, also located in South Wales. Together, the two projects form the foundation of a growing network of green hydrogen energy assets designed to decarbonise the UK’s hardest-to-electrify sectors, particularly heavy transport, logistics, off grid power, and large energy intensive industries.
Pioneer 2 is one of the largest containerised proton exchange membrane (PEM) systems in the UK and at full capacity will provide up to 1 tpd of green hydrogen. The system will also be among the first to participate in grid balancing, following on from Protium’s successful collaboration with Flexitricity as the first green hydrogen asset to be awarded support under the Governments capacity market auction process.
This will support off-grid power and transport applications, as well as continuing Protium’s proud tradition of supporting the scale-up of early-stage and novel applications such as H2 autonomous vehicles, e-fuel production, and R&D facilities. Areas often underserved by traditional energy providers. By enabling clean hydrogen access beyond the national grid, Protium is helping to decarbonise remote operations, construction sites, and temporary logistics hubs, sectors critical to reaching the UK’s broader net zero targets.
Chris Jackson, CEO of Protium, commented: “Pioneer 2 is a key milestone for Protium and for UK green hydrogen. For the company, this represents a 25x increase in our existing hydrogen production capacity and for our customers, this means Protium will be able to support larger volumes of hydrogen and in a greater variety of storage products than before. Having operated Pioneer 1 for more than two years, we have seen the demand in the market for available green hydrogen, and we know that supply is now the constraint on further UK green hydrogen demand growth. That is why we are proud to be leading the way, supporting our customers in South Wales and beyond in their net zero journey.”
With planning and permitting complete, and key equipment secured, a 2.5 MWe Nel electrolyser along with compression and dispensing systems are already on-site. The project is making good progress towards full commercial operations in early 2026.
Several commercial customers have already committed, and together, these milestones demonstrate the strong momentum behind Pioneer 2 as Protium moves confidently towards commissioning and first hydrogen later in 2025.
Together Protium in close collaboration with Neath Port Talbot Council, reaffirms a shared commitment to making South Wales a centre of excellence for green hydrogen. Protium’s work in the region demonstrates how local partnerships can accelerate clean energy delivery while unlocking long-term economic and environmental value.