Retail Buying Fuels ITM Power’s Latest Leg Higher as EU Lobbying Campaign Gathers Steam

ITM Power hits 52-week high as retail buying fuels rally, while EU electrolyser coalition demands stronger demand measures in Industrial Accelerator Act.

ITM Power’s stock hit a fresh 52-week high of 217p on Thursday, driven by a wave of retail buying that saw the electrolyser maker become one of the most traded names on the interactive investor platform. The surge — 7.7% on the day to close at 209.2p — came without any fresh corporate announcement, signalling a purely speculative push.

The buying spree was lopsided: 53% of all trades on interactive investor were purchases, placing ITM Power alongside blue-chip heavyweights such as Rolls-Royce, BP, BT Group and easyJet. The stock has now climbed roughly 31% in the past five trading days and an eye-popping 236% since the start of the year.

Yet beneath the retail-driven momentum lies a more deliberate strategic play. On 27 May, the coalition “Electrolysers for Europe” — whose members include ITM Power, John Cockerill, Nel Hydrogen, Sunfire, thyssenkrupp nucera and Topsoe — published a position paper taking aim at the European Commission’s proposed Industrial Accelerator Act, unveiled on 4 March 2026. The group argues that the Act’s “Made in EU” preferences for public procurement and funding programmes are toothless without corresponding measures to stimulate demand for green hydrogen.

The coalition, which represents more than 10 gigawatts of manufacturing capacity and over 13,000 employees across five European countries, warned that the current draft would amount to a “paper tiger” — supply-side rules with no demand engine. ITM Power, the only British member of the group, brings more than 500 MW of installed or contracted capacity and over 550 MW of additional capacity reservations to the table.

That regulatory backdrop is crucial for ITM Power’s long-term equation. Stronger EU origin preferences combined with concrete demand instruments would materially improve the market environment for European electrolyser makers. If the Act passes in its present form, however, the structural bottlenecks around project economics and hydrogen uptake remain unchanged.

On the home front, the UK government is also stepping in. The Competition and Markets Authority published a report on 20 May outlining a planned capital grant of £46.5 million for a new 1-GW manufacturing line in Sheffield, earmarked for fiscal years 2026/27 and 2027/28. That follows a £40 million equity injection from Great British Energy announced on 9 April — the same day ITM Power disclosed the Chronos financing arrangement.

Thursday’s rally pushed the stock past a technically significant resistance level, but without a fundamental catalyst, the sustainability of the move hinges on whether the buying broadens — or profit-taking sets in. For now, the company’s next major impetus will likely come from Brussels, where the legislative process for the Industrial Accelerator Act is still underway. The coalition’s paper, demanding stronger preferences, clearer eligibility criteria and lead-market mechanisms for clean hydrogen, represents a last-ditch push to reshape the law before it is finalised.