Latent Drive’s £630k Hydrogen Funding Could Unlock £multi billion Market for UK’s South Coast
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Latent Drive’s £630k Hydrogen Funding Could Unlock £multi billion Market for UK’s South Coast
Southwest consortium celebrates Innovate UK grant for HydroPort trial of SeaStack technology
· Revolutionary hydrogen-from-seawater trial will be hosted at Portland Port
· SeaStack allows conversion of energy into hydrogen, at the point of renewable generation
· Producing hydrogen at source can make transmission easier, without cables or pylons
· Avoids expensive seawater treatment (desalination) and rare metals from unreliable sources
03 March 2025, Dorset UK: Latent Drive, developers of ground-breaking technologies to produce abundant and affordable green hydrogen at source, has won a £630,000 grant under Innovate UK’s Launchpad South West Marine and Maritime competition. This will fund a demonstration trial to fuel a harbour patrol vessel with green hydrogen, produced directly from seawater and renewable energy using Latent Drive’s SeaStack technology.
The HydroPort trial on England’s south coast is led by Latent Drive (Winfrith), supported by Dorset Council and hosted by Portland Port, in collaboration with Logan Energy (Devon), SALINE Business Services (Blandford) and the University of Exeter’s Centre for Future Clean Mobility. It will assess the market potential for SeaStack in decarbonising ports – especially as operators respond to government targets and public demand for evermore offshore renewables.
Frazer Ely, CEO and Founder of Latent Drive said: “Huge thanks to our own team, and the wider HydroPort consortium, for beating tough competition to win this substantial grant from Innovate UK. We are grateful for this ongoing government support which will help to demonstrate how our SeaStack product can revolutionise green hydrogen production, location and economics – without expensive desalination or rare metals. I’m especially proud that HydroPort is home-grown here in the southwest; harnessing the very environment that made the coastline so famous, while opening up job opportunities for the whole region.”
This latest funding follows a range of previous government-backed grants totalling £1.1m and coincides with a corporate investment round of £2.25 million.
SeaStack is the world’s first commercial direct seawater-to-hydrogen electrolyser stack, optimised for installation offshore. It has a wide operating range to capture more wind energy at low cost, and is designed to produce green hydrogen direct from seawater for less than $2/kg. SeaStack is designed for use on harbour walls, offshore wind turbines, and floating platforms to make best use of energy supplies and refuelling sites.
There is huge potential with the emerging Dorset clean energy super cluster being centred around Portland. The area is well positioned to contribute to the 60 million tonnes of green hydrogen required annually for the marine sector to reach net zero by 2050.[i]
Ian McQuade, General Manager - Commercial, Portland Port, added: “Portland Port welcomes the opportunity to host the HydroPort trial. We look forward to working with Latent Drive and its partners on this project for a green hydrogen fuelled harbour patrol boat using SeaStack technology. It supports our Green Energy Island aspiration for Portland to become a leading renewable energy hub on the south coast.”
In January, ERM, the world’s largest advisory firm focused solely on sustainability, issued an independent report on Latent Drive. As well as assessing the company’s technologies and market potential, ERM also highlighted the sustainability significance of being able to process non-freshwater sources – given that over 35% of the operational and planned hydrogen production capacity is in water-stressed regions.
Councillor Richard Briggs, Deputy Leader & Cabinet Member for Economic Growth at Dorset Council, concluded: “HydroPort helps advance Net Zero aims for Dorset and the UK as a whole, by developing innovative new technology for Green Hydrogen production.”
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Editors notes
References
[1] International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). World Energy Transitions Outlook
For media enquiries, imagery, or to arrange a briefing, please contact:
Justin Heath
Resonates
+44 7760 263269
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Anna Studley
Latent Drive
+44 1305 896968
About Latent Drive
Based on the former Winfrith nuclear site on southwest England’s Jurassic coast, and supported by government and private funding, Latent Drive is developing cutting-edge electrolyser technologies to replace fossil fuels – with a mission to make green hydrogen abundant and affordable. This is essential to decarbonise industry, provide energy storage and secure energy supplies.
Latent Drive has developed SeaStack, enabling green hydrogen production at the source of energy. SeaStack is the world’s first commercial direct seawater-to-hydrogen electrolyser stack, optimised for installation offshore. With a wide operating range, it is able to capture more renewable energy at lower cost and can produce green hydrogen directly from seawater for less than $2/kg.
A key component of SeaStack is Latent Drive’s innovative Catrodes. These superior catalysed electrodes do not contain rare and expensive platinum group metals (PGMs), as required in conventional electrolysers. Latent Drive uses ordinary stainless-steel to make Catrodes, which combine both catalyst and electrode as one homogeneous part, without additional ingredients. Furthermore, Catrodes aren’t just a laboratory concept, they are commercially available via an established distributor network – with hundreds already supplied worldwide.
About Innovate UK
Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation, is the UK’s innovation agency. Our mission is to help companies to grow through their development and commercialisation of new products, processes and services, supported by an outstanding innovation ecosystem that is agile, inclusive and easy to navigate. The Launchpad programme supports the UK government’s goals in its Levelling Up white paper, with the South West Marine and Maritime competition funding projects across Cornwall and Isles of Scilly, Devon, Somerset and Dorset. These projects will contribute to the Great South West’s ambitions for net zero targets, while strengthening key regional strategic marine and maritime markets.
