Getech LON:GTC, which owns the hydrogen developer H2 Green, has appointed former ITM Power CEO Dr Graham Cooley as the new chair of H2 Green. He will be helping it to expand and develop its portfolio of hydrogen and renewable energy projects.
Cooley was CEO of ITM Power LON:ITM from 2009 to 2022, the first hydrogen-related company to be listed on the London Stock Market. He has worked closely with the UK government and is a member of the UK government’s Hydrogen Advisory Council, and a board member of the trade body, Renewable UK.
More recently he was named to the advisory board of London-listed clean energy cash shell Pineapple Power LON:PNPL. The SPAC is known to be in the market for one or more acquisitions in the clean / renewable energy market. Clive de Larrabeiti, corporate finance adviser with Pineapple Power, said that Cooley’s efforts would be useful in helping the company to delineate an appropriate acquisition in the renewable sector.
Shares in Getech jumped 13% on the news. The stock is up +18% over 30 days and +8.16% YTD. It was trading at 16.5p at time of writing. It has a 52 week high of 33p.
A proven entrepreneur and developer of early stage businesses, Cooley has been involved with a wide range of companies, nearly all connected to the cleantech sector. He has successfully led numerous transactions and raised substantial investment capital. He was CEO of Sensortec, founder of Metalysis, a spin out from Cambridge University, and founding CEO of Antenova.
“This is a very significant appointment for us and one that reflects well on what we have achieved so far,” said Luke Johnson, Managing Director of H2 Green. “Graham understands what is required to be successful and will give excellent guidance for the future development of the company. The UK government has set a strategic goal of domestically producing 10GW of hydrogen by 2030 and we want H2 Green to be a key player in delivering this goal.”
The UK’s national hydrogen network
H2 Green is endeavouring to build what it calls the first full scale national network for clean hydrogen. Working with existing UK infrastructure, the company selects sites for hydrogen storage based on the analysis of HGV vehicle movement around the country. It is clearly anticipating a future where UK and European HGVs will be operating heavily or indeed exclusively on hydrogen.
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The company is collaborating with proven technology providers, major energy operators, investors and end users to provide reliable supplies of clean, low-cost hydrogen throughout the UK. Considered at one stage speculative technology, clean hydrogen is moving towards to mainstream at an exponential rate. One of the criticisms often cited by its opponents was the lack of infrastructure to support an ambitious roll out. H2 Green seems to be on course to deliver this.
Getech is currently working on an Inverness green hydrogen hub. It reported at the end of last year that it was working with SGN Commercial Services to deconstruct the Scottish town’s former gas holder, paving the way for a future green hydrogen distribution and storage facility. The site forms an important element of Getech’s broader hydrogen network development for the Scottish Highlands.
