Hydrogen from direct seawater: Latent Drive bags £630k for production trials
A hydrogen electrolyser that runs directly on seawater, no desalination required. Sounds like magic – or at least, like something that would never work in real-world conditions.
But a British startup is about to put that to the test.
UK firm Latent Drive has just secured £630,000 from Innovate UK to trial its SeaStack technology – an electrolyser that can supposedly extract hydrogen straight from seawater, without any purification or treatment.
If it works, it could be a game-changer for offshore wind-powered hydrogen production, cutting costs and simplifying the whole setup.
That’s the theory. The reality? That’s what the Dorset trials are supposed to find out.
What’s different about SeaStack?
Hydrogen electrolysis is not a new concept, but traditional systems need pure, deionised water to function properly.
That’s fine on land, where you can hook up to the mains, but offshore? Not so much.
Conventional setups require desalination plants and water treatment, which take up space, add cost, and create an extra maintenance headache.
Latent Drive reckons it’s found a way around that. SeaStack is designed to sit directly in seawater, taking hydrogen from the ocean without needing any purification beforehand.
The company claims this halves footprint, cost, and maintenance compared to traditional electrolysis, which – if true – would be a big deal for offshore wind hydrogen production.
There’s another twist: unlike most electrolysers, SeaStack doesn’t use platinum group metals (PGMs), the expensive and increasingly scarce materials that tend to dominate the industry.
Instead, Latent Drive has developed “Catrodes” – a stainless steel-based electrode that integrates both catalyst and electrode into a single unit.
The firm says this brings down costs, simplifies production, and makes the tech more scalable.
The hydrogen big picture
SeaStack is being tested in Dorset, but it’s part of a much larger trend. The UK government has big ambitions for hydrogen, especially when it comes to offshore wind integration.
According to ERM, the world’s largest sustainability consultancy, the UK could deploy up to 9GW of offshore wind-powered electrolysis by 2040 – a massive jump from today’s zero.
Meanwhile, Europe is aiming for up to 90GW in the same timeframe.
The logic behind all this is simple: offshore wind farms generate huge amounts of energy, but not always when the grid needs it.
Instead of dumping that excess electricity or building ever-thicker cables to shore, why not turn it into hydrogen on-site?
The hydrogen can then be stored, transported, and used when and where it’s needed. That’s where SeaStack could make a difference.
ERM’s independent report suggests that eliminating the need for desalination and water treatment would make offshore hydrogen production far more efficient and cost-effective.
It also highlights another issue that’s creeping up the priority list: water scarcity. With over 35% of current and planned hydrogen projects sitting in water-stressed regions, tapping into seawater directly could be a huge sustainability win.
Funding and future moves
This latest £630k grant is just one of several funding rounds for Latent Drive. The company has already secured £1.1m in government-backed grants, including £500k from the Net Zero Technology Centre last year.
It’s also just launched a £2.25m investment round, including a £250k Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS) allowance for early-stage investors.
Latent Drive’s CEO and founder Frazer Ely called the Innovate UK grant a “substantial” win, adding:
“Huge thanks to our team and the wider HydroPort consortium for beating tough competition. Our SeaStack electrolyser can revolutionise clean hydrogen production – without expensive desalination or rare metals – in a global market projected to be worth $642 billion by 2030.”
ERM’s Tom Haughton was a little more reserved but still optimistic about the concept, saying:
“For offshore wind farms far from shore, where cable connection to land becomes progressively more uneconomic, direct seawater electrolysis could improve overall system efficiency and reduce costs.”
A clever idea – but will it work?
SeaStack ticks all the right boxes: lower costs, simpler installation, fewer resource constraints, and a potential solution to offshore wind’s intermittency problem.
On paper, it’s exactly the kind of technology the industry needs.
But real-world conditions are another story. Offshore environments are brutal – corrosion, biofouling, and extreme weather can destroy poorly designed equipment in months.
Latent Drive will have to prove that SeaStack can handle those conditions and still function reliably, and the Dorset trials will be the first big test.
