Protium acquires UK-backed green hydrogen project from Storegga | Hydrogen News

Protium has acquired the 15MW UK government-backed Cromarty green hydrogen project amid a wider portfolio gain from climate technology developer Storegga.

It follows Storegga and co-developer Scottish Power halting plans for the project last year, citing “challenging conditions” and a “limited route to market” for its 5.5 tonnes-per-day (tpd).

Cromarty was selected to receive a share of £2bn ($2.7bn) in revenue support through the UK’s first Hydrogen Allocation Round (HAR) in 2023.

Protium told H2 View that the project will retain the subsidies from its initial selection. It also said it will not look to scale it beyond the initial 15MW.

Planned to scale up to a 100tpd production capacity, it will become the final HAR1-selected project to sign a subsidy agreement.

Protium also acquired Storegga’s 70MW green hydrogen project in Scotland.

Storegga has been seeking a new owner for the facility since January after it failed to secure planning permission for a scale-up to 200MW following a unanimous council.

The firm had intended the project to supply green hydrogen to local whisky distilleries.

In a statement, Storegga said the transfer of Cromarty and its wider hydrogen portfolio follows the company’s decision to “restructure its portfolio.”

CEO, Tim Steadman, added that Protium represents a developer with the “platform and capability to build on the work achieved to date.”

Two other Protium projects were shortlisted under HAR2 in April 2025, pending final selection.

According to Protium its 100kW Pioneer 1 facility in Wales has delivered over 4 tonnes of green hydrogen since 2023 while its 2.5MW Pioneer 2, also in Wales, produced its first molecules at the beginning of May and is set to produce 1tpd when operational in June.

The UK’s HAR scheme remains somewhat in limbo, with the final selection out of 27 projects, shortlisted in April 2025, still unnamed.