Green power firm wins funding for research posts

The Sheffield firm, which has developed unique electrolyser technology to create hydrogen gas from renewable energy, said it won funds worth more than 88,000 for projects at the universities of Southampton and Sheffield.

The Southampton grant, a Collaborative Awards in Science and Engineering (Case) award, will fund a PhD to investigate materials for water electrolysis which can be used with lower quality water and renewable power.

ITM is also sponsoring a doctorate on the University of Sheffield's E-Futures programme, which researches energy. This programme is supported by the Engineering and Physical Research Council and will investigate novel polymers for use in electro-chemical cells.

Dr Simon Bourne, chief technology officer of ITM, said: "EPSRC funding is very competitive and the requirements demand a high level of innovation and technical content. I am therefore delighted to announce these two awards. The combination of our technology and the world-class expertise at Southampton and Sheffield is a strong one and should benefit all parties, not least the two doctoral students. This is a further example of our strategy to increase our profile within the research community."

ITM said the projects should strengthen its intellectual property (IP), foster relationships with academia and could reduce development and testing costs.

Any new IP generated will be owned by ITM Power for use in fuel cells and electrolysers.