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Vertex Hydrogen is announcing that it is changing its brand to EET Hydrogen and that it intends to move from being a subsidiary of Essar Oil UK (EOUK) to a sister company of EOUK and become a standalone pillar of the Essar Energy Transition (EET) portfolio.

This change is a natural progression in the development of the company from an early-stage idea into the leading hydrogen production project in the UK.

EET Hydrogen will provide a platform for growth with an ambition to deliver around 4GW of low carbon hydrogen by 2030, around 40 per cent of the UK government’s national target.

This hydrogen will enable businesses to switch from fossil fuels to low carbon energy, securing and growing vital industries and jobs and unlocking billions of pounds of investment.

Essar founded Vertex Hydrogen Limited (VHL) with Progressive Energy Limited (PEL) in January 2022 as an operating subsidiary held 90 per cent by EOUK. VHL was specifically focused on developing the HPP1 and HPP2 low carbon hydrogen production plants at EOUK’s Stanlow site.

These plants are the catalyst for a hydrogen economy across the North-West and a central part of the HyNet industrial decarbonisation cluster. HPP1 and HPP2 total up to 1,350MW in size, with HPP1 selected by the UK government to progress as one of two initial large scale low carbon hydrogen projects.

VHL’s direct ownership and focus on HPP1 and HPP2 remain, but under the branding of the EET Hydrogen, which will also develop other hydrogen related businesses.

VHL and EOUK have a symbiotic relationship on an arms-length basis and this will remain.

Joe Seifert, CEO of EET Hydrogen, said: “We have made huge progress since launching our hydrogen business last year and the natural next step is for EET Hydrogen to become a standalone business to capitalise on the huge opportunities we see. This paves the way for future growth of our hydrogen platform as we move from ambition to action.”