London – ESB and dCarbonX Ltd have signed a Memorandum to Understanding (MoU) that will allow the companies to evaluate and progress onshore large-scale subsurface hydrogen energy storage opportunities in the United Kingdom. dCarbonX is an affiliate of Snam, one of the world’s leading energy infrastructure operators and Europe’s largest energy storage company.
This follows a joint venture announced by the companies in September 2022 to develop large-scale energy storage projects offshore Ireland.
As part of the agreement, ESB and dCarbonX will assess potential sites across the UK to support energy clusters, dedicated hydrogen networks and ESB’s energy projects.
Jim Dollard, ESB Executive Director, Generation and Trading, said: “ESB has operated in the UK for more than 25 years as a leading independent generator with current developments in onshore and offshore wind projects. This agreement with our valued partner, dCarbonX, cements our commitment to exploring and investing in renewable solutions that will help the UK achieve its climate targets.”
ESB has significant UK onshore (1.5 GW) and offshore (2 GW) wind energy portfolios in development and planning stages and is exploring opportunities for the development of complementary onshore subsurface energy storage, with a particular focus on green hydrogen.
Tony O’Reilly, CEO of dCarbonX, said: “We are delighted to expand our relationship with ESB into the UK which will allow us to leverage key learnings from our Irish projects in areas such as technology, business modelling & operations. We see significant large scale energy storage opportunities in the UK given its mature energy industry and favourable geology together with recent hydrogen policy developments. In addition, the success of the Crown Estate/ScotWind offshore wind auctions together with the development of Net Zero industrial clusters such as HyNet, should further spur the production and storage of green hydrogen.”
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About ESB
ESB operates across the electricity market: from generation, through transmission and distribution to the supply of customers. In addition, we invest in supplying gas, energy services and, through Siro (our joint venture with Vodafone), fibre for telecommunications. In H1 2022 ESB had a 31% share of generation in the all-island market (via ESB Generation and Trading) and a 41% share of electricity supply in the all-island market (via Electric Ireland). ESB Networks owns the distribution and transmission networks in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland Electricity Networks owns the distribution and transmission networks in Northern Ireland.
About ESB Net Zero by 2040
ESB’s 2040 strategy Driven to Make a Difference: Net Zero by 2040 sets out a clear roadmap for ESB to achieve net zero emissions by 2040. It also commits ESB to a Science Based Target for 2030 to provide assurance that we are decarbonising our operations at the necessary pace and scale. The strategy sets out a pathway to achieve net zero in a way that supports our continued growth and financial capacity to invest in a net zero future.
About dCarbonX
dCarbonX is a pioneering asset-focused GeoEnergy company established to develop subsurface assets for energy storage and for the sequestration of CO2. Based in London and Dublin, dCarbonX has a Strategic Energy Transition Alliance with Snam (www.snam.it), one of the world’s leading energy infrastructure operators and Europe’s largest energy storage company. Snam currently holds a (28.89%) equity interest in dCarbonX and will increase its stake up to a controlling interest by providing dCarbonX with financial and technical support for its current storage and carbon sequestration projects in Ireland and the United Kingdom.
