Contributors
International law firm Womble Bond Dickinson has advised longstanding client RES, one of the world’s largest independent renewable energy companies, on its new green hydrogen joint venture, HYRO, with Octopus Energy Generation.
HYRO is seeking to invest £3bn in green hydrogen projects by 2030 to help industrial businesses embrace green hydrogen, protecting industry from gas price volatility and reducing emissions.
As part of the next phase in its development, HYRO is now working with Kimberly-Clark, the parent company of household brands like Andrex®, Kleenex® and Huggies®, to swap gas for green hydrogen at UK factories by developing electrolysers at two manufacturing plants in Kent and Wales.
Both electrolyser facilities will have a combined capacity of 22.5 MW and are expected to reduce thousands of tonnes of CO2 emissions every year for Kimberly-Clark. It will also help meet the UK Government's 2030 green hydrogen targets.
The Womble Bond Dickinson team advising RES was led by energy partners Sebastian Briggs and Richard Cockburn and finance partner Graham Jeffries. The firm has worked on a number of strategic projects with RES over the years including the sale of a 12-turbine windfarm in Scotland last November, the sale of its Roaring Hill Energy Storage Project to TagEnergy as well as the sale of Craiggore Wind Farm in 2019, RES' first UK subsidy-free wind farm project.
Sebastian Briggs comments:
"It has been a pleasure working once again with RES, this time on the HYRO joint venture. Hydrogen is going to play a crucial role in the UK meeting its net zero targets and it is fantastic to see companies like RES and Octopus Energy Generation coming together to accelerate the decarbonisation of the economy."
Rachel Ruffle, RES EMEA CEO, adds:
"Green hydrogen developed and produced using renewable energy in the UK can provide a reliable, cost-competitive source of power for industrial businesses. HYRO’s partnership with Kimberly-Clark demonstrates how we can transition to clean fuels, creating jobs, investment and a globally competitive economy in the process."
Dominic Hearth, Group General Counsel at RES, comments:
"The team at Womble Bond Dickinson has once again demonstrated its outstanding grasp of the what it takes to implement complex energy projects in the renewables sector, including the green hydrogen segment, and it is always a pleasure to work with Sebastian and his team who are proactive and clear in their advice."
