Up to 80 new manufacturing jobs at Sheffield hydrogen specialist's new factory

ITM Power wants qualified and experienced electrical engineers, chemists, automation engineers and manufacturing engineers to work at its new Gigafactory near Meadowhall.

It is also creating ‘a range of opportunities for apprentices’ to develop the engineers of the future.

The fast growing firm opened the multi-million pound site last month to meet soaring demand for its products.

Chief executive Dr Graham Cooley said the 230-strong firm now had everything in place to expand.

He added: “We believe the manufacturing of the machinery necessary to help the world through the energy transition should be based here in the UK.

“We now have all the resources we need – capacity, finances and customer demand – to be able to provide rewarding roles to more and more people. We’ve come a long way, join us for the rest of this incredible journey.”

ITM Power makes electrolysers that split water into oxygen and hydrogen. Hydrogen can be used to refuel cars, power factories or pumped into the national gas grid.

The company has recently signed deals for a 24 megawatt project at Leuna Chemical Facility in Germany and a planned 100 megawatt addition to the Refhyne Project at the Shell oil refinery in Rhineland in Germany.

Half-year results at the end of October showed a backlog of work worth £16m with a further £88m in negotiation. It made a loss of £10.4m.

The AIM-listed firm has raised £231m in the last two years and has a partnership with global gases giant Linde.

The Gigafactory, at Bessemer Park, off Shepcote Lane, near Meadowhall, is claimed to be the world’s largest electrolyser factory. It is set to make enough equipment to produce one billion watts of energy every year - enough to power several hundred thousand homes.

The hydrogen sector is riding high after the Government said it would boost hi-tech green sectors post-Brexit. It must also meet a legally-binding commitment to make the UK carbon neutral by 2050.

The firm wants:

Technical project managers, to oversee rapidly expanding project portfolios.

Compliance, including requirements of the PED, ATEX, CE Marking etc.

Electrical engineers, including system design, systems integration and control systems

Chemists, including polymer chemists and electrochemists.

Read the latest issue of the OGV Energy magazine HERE.