Clean fuel company’s shares soar as investor climate changes
Shares in clean fuel company ITM Power have risen by more than 50% in a month as investors jump on board a change in climate around environmental policies.
Sheffield-headquartered ITM Power has seen its shares jump from 20p in late April to close at 34p on Friday, taking its market value above £100m.
Climate change has re-entered the policy debate in recent weeks with school strikes around the world providing fresh impetus. The campaign leader Greta Thunberg was applauded by MPs when she was introduced to the House of Commons in April.
The Guardian has updated its style guide to direct its journalists to use the phrase “climate emergency, crisis or breakdown” instead of “climate change”.
In early May ITM Power welcomed the report of the Committee on Climate Change that set the target of eradicating greenhouse gas emissions in the UK by 2050.
Days later the company extended its hydrogen refuelling collaboration agreement with Shell. It began in September 2015 and will now run until at least 2024.
It operates two hydrogen refuelling stations (HRS) at Shell service stations on the M25 at Cobham and the M40 at Beaconsfield.
There are commitments to build a further four stations. Sites at Gatwick and Derby are scheduled to open this year with two additional stations in London planned to follow.
However ITM Power has seen its share price spike before. In summer 2017 it jumped from 20p to 50p in a 10-week period before falling back over the next 18 months.
