ITM Power's containerised Hydropulse electrolyser platform has landed a preliminary agreement covering a 150MW hydrogen plant at a refinery, gasworld reported — a deal that would rank among the larger green-hydrogen installations so far tied to downstream fuels processing.

The 150MW capacity figure anchors the story. At typical efficiencies, an electrolyser of that scale could produce on the order of tens of tonnes of hydrogen per day, a volume aimed at displacing grey hydrogen in hydrotreating and desulphurisation service. Details of the refinery host, contract value, and commercial timeline remain undisclosed at this stage.

What kind of deal is it?

The agreement is preliminary, meaning it falls short of a final investment decision or firm equipment order. For ITM Power and its Hydropulse product line, a pre-FID contract of this size signals market interest from refiners under pressure to decarbonise hydrogen supply, but sanction risk remains until engineering, permitting, and offtake terms are locked.

Hydropulse is ITM's modular, container-based system — a format the company has positioned for industrial customers that want hydrogen capacity added in scalable increments rather than through single large-scale builds.

Why refineries are the target market

Refineries are the largest industrial consumers of hydrogen, using it to remove sulphur from diesel, gasoline, and jet fuel. Most of that hydrogen today comes from steam methane reforming, which carries a heavy carbon intensity. Electrolytic hydrogen at 150MW scale could cut Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions from refinery hydrogen supply, provided the power source is low-carbon.

The deal fits a broader pattern: electrolyser vendors are chasing industrial offtakers — refiners, ammonia producers, steelmakers — as utility-scale green hydrogen projects face slower sanctioning.

What to watch

The watch items are clear. Watch for conversion of the preliminary agreement into a firm order, disclosure of the refinery operator and site location, and the power purchase arrangement that will determine the project's effective carbon intensity and hydrogen production cost. No startup date has been announced.