From Equipment to Offtake: ITM Power and Protium Green Solutions Rewrite the Project Playbook at Cromarty

A strategic alliance between ITM Power and Protium Green Solutions is taking shape around a concrete anchor: the Cromarty Hydrogen Project in the Scottish Highlands. The partnership, announced this week, goes beyond a simple supplier-buyer relationship, bundling development, finance, and operations into a single vehicle designed to accelerate the roll-out of industrial-scale green hydrogen production in the UK.

The 15 MW electrolysis plant, for which Protium recently secured funding under the government’s Hydrogen Allocation Round 1 (HAR1), is expected to produce roughly seven tonnes of green hydrogen per day at full capacity — equivalent to about 2,000 tonnes annually. The target for a final investment decision (FID) has been set for December 2026, a date that will serve as the first major inflection point for the collaboration. Once the first phase is operational, the project is expected to create around 30 local jobs.

Under the terms of the agreement, Protium retains the lead developer role, handling power procurement, permitting, infrastructure, and distribution to a group of industrial customers in the region — many of whom lack a connection to the national gas grid. ITM Power, for its part, sees the partnership as a way to lock in recurring demand for its electrolyser technology. Its subsidiary Hydropulse is in line to operate the facility, while Protium has also been granted options to purchase ITM electrolysers directly, opening up an alternative revenue channel.

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The two companies are already looking beyond Cromarty. Future projects under HAR2 and HAR3 are factored into the strategic framework, and ITM Power’s management has flagged that additional models — including the use of Hydropulse’s containerised hydrogen units — are under discussion. On the technology front, a novel platinum?nickel catalyst developed by the University of Nottingham could further improve plant efficiency, though no commercial timeline was provided.

The market response to the announcement has been mixed, reflecting the broader uncertainty weighing on the UK hydrogen sector. On the day the deal was unveiled (3 June), ITM Power shares closed at 175.30 GBX — down nearly 5% — though other prints showed the stock trading at 187 pence, a gain of 1.36%. By Thursday, the share price had settled at €1.92, a 5.46% decline on the session, as profit?taking continued to chip away at a powerful rally. Year?to?date, the stock is still up 164%, a figure that has come down from a peak gain of 180% earlier in the week, and the 12?month advance stands at 123%. The 52?week high of €2.58, set only days ago, now lies 26% above the current level.

The technical picture appears neutral for now, with the relative strength index (RSI) at 50.6. Analysts remain broadly bullish: a consensus of twelve houses assigns an average “OUTPERFORM” rating, with a mean price target of £1.19 per share. Yet the optimism is tempered by persistent doubts about the UK government’s hydrogen strategy. Several projects have reportedly been frozen or shelved due to a lack of credible offtakers, and delays in updating the national hydrogen roadmap have added to the uncertainty.

Against that backdrop, the ITM Power–Protium partnership represents an attempt to de?risk project execution by integrating development, investment, and operation under a single umbrella. The model is designed to provide end?to?end certainty — from technology supply to final hydrogen delivery — at a time when the industry needs to demonstrate that government subsidies can translate into commercially viable plants. Whether the approach will hold when the Cromarty FID falls due in December remains the critical test.

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