Green hydrogen project reaches FID

The project, which is owned and being delivered by Green Hydrogen Energy Company (GHECO), the joint venture established by Schroders Greencoat and Carlton Power in 2023, is one of the first renewable hydrogen production facilities to reach FID in the UK.

The GHECO joint venture is a dedicated platform through which institutional capital can be deployed at scale into UK green hydrogen production. Barrow, as the first project to reach FID and enter construction within the GHECO platform, marks a significant step in the continued growth of Schroders Greencoat’s broader energy transition capability which spans hydrogen, grid infrastructure, battery storage, district heating, and electric vehicle charging.

Barrow represents the first project that the GHECO platform has brought into construction. The project was originated and initially developed by Carlton Power, and the company signed a Low Carbon Hydrogen Agreement (a type of Contract for Difference) with the UK Government in June 2025, following the Government’s first Hydrogen Allocation Round (HAR1). Following this, the project was acquired by GHECO, who has continued and finalised the commercial and technical development of the project leading to the FID.

Barrow is part of a significant pipeline that GHECO is targeting to build over the coming years with an aim to build a 200 MW portfolio of green hydrogen projects in the UK by 2030.

Green hydrogen is expected to play a central role in decarbonising the sectors of the economy that cannot be easily electrified - including industrial heat, steel, fertilizer, shipping and chemicals - which together account for a significant share of global emissions. This development supports the Government’s low-carbon hydrogen production programme, part of the UK’s clean energy mission, and represents a meaningful step in mobilising private capital at scale behind the UK’s hydrogen ambitions. To bring this project successfully to this point, GHECO has brought together a number of significant parties including:

• The project has secured a long-term hydrogen supply agreement with consumer goods specialist Kimberly-Clark at its Barrow-in-Furness manufacturing plant, from which consumer products including Andrex® and Kleenex® are produced. It is estimated that the Kimberly-Clark Barrow site will reduce its consumption of natural gas by up to 50% with a reduction of 18,300 tonnes of CO2 emissions.
• An agreement with SEFE, a leading provider of renewable energy, to provide the power to operate the plant over a long-term Power Purchase Agreement (PPA).
• One of the world’s leading producers of hydrogen electrolysers in the form of Plug Power.
• An agreement with EDF subsidiary Dalkia Engineering, an experienced engineering procurement and construction (EPC) provider to fully deliver the construction and commissioning of the project.

Kristian Høeg Madsen, Co-Head of Hydrogen Investments at Schroders Greencoat, said: “We have significant ambitions to grow the GHECO platform – reaching Final Investment Decision on Barrow is therefore a key milestone for Schroders Greencoat, as well as the UK’s emerging hydrogen economy. Through our origination, structuring and execution capabilities, we have combined a Contract for Difference, a long-term PPA with SEFE and a credible industrial offtake in Kimberly-Clark to build exactly the kind of contracted, inflation-linked infrastructure our investors are looking for. This represents an exciting milestone for the project, and we are delighted to start construction of this pioneering asset.

“We believe hydrogen is central to the next phase of the energy transition and projects like Barrow demonstrate how Schroders Greencoat can unlock opportunities for investors and deploy institutional capital at pace to decarbonise hard-to-abate sectors. Building on our long track-record in renewable and energy transition aligned infrastructure, Barrow marks our first move into hydrogen at scale and is the first of many such projects we expect to deliver.”

Eric Adams, Carlton Power’s Hydrogen Projects Director, commented: “I’m delighted that GHECO, our joint venture with Schroders Greencoat, has reached a Final Investment Decision at Barrow, one of the first and largest green hydrogen projects in the UK to have reached this milestone. Being one of the first projects, which was first conceived in early 2022, to come through HAR1 and reach FID has been a fantastic effort from everyone involved, notably Kimberly-Clark, at DESNZ and the Low Carbon Contracts Company and the GHECO team at Schroders Greencoat and Carlton Power. Together, we have set a benchmark for future projects.”

Read the article online at: https://www.globalhydrogenreview.com/hydrogen/20052026/green-hydrogen-project-reaches-fid/