Scottish government lays out hydrogen export ambitions

The Scottish government has laid out ambitions to make Scotland an exporter of low-carbon hydrogen to the rest of Europe as part of its draft Hydrogen Action Plan published on Wednesday (10 November).

The plan reaffirmed its commitment from a policy statement in December 2020 to invest £100 million over the next five years to develop a hydrogen economy in Scotland on the way to deploying 5GW of low-carbon hydrogen production capacity by 2030 and 25GW by 2045.

“We are keen to play our role in the development of hydrogen in the UK, European and international markets,” said Michael Matheson, Scottish cabinet secretary for net zero, energy, in the foreword to the document.

“Scotland is well placed in terms of proximity and infrastructure connectivity to key locations in Northern Europe that are unlikely to be able to produce enough renewable hydrogen to meet their own decarbonisation requirements and currently developing import strategies.”

He continued: “Scotland has the potential to produce significant quantities of renewable hydrogen from our offshore and onshore wind resources and our potential wave and tidal power which is vastly greater than our indigenous demand.

“We also have the potential to produce low-carbon hydrogen at a large industrial scale. Scotland’s access to low-cost renewables, supplies of natural gas, carbon storage, utilisation of existing distribution infrastructure, proximity to demand, and our innovation support landscape can all contribute to greater efficiencies and thus reducing the cost base.

“Combined, these position Scotland to produce and then export the lowest-cost renewable and low-carbon hydrogen in Europe.”

The Scottish government said the first £10 million tranche of the £100 million investment will go to a Hydrogen Innovation Fund to drive innovation and reduce costs that will be launched in the next year.

It said its Energy Transition Fund will separately be expanded to £75 million to provide £15 million to develop a hydrogen hub in Aberdeen to support transport, heating and industry that will enter operation in 2023.

It will also work with industry to develop a Hydrogen Export Plan, undertake a review of the preparedness of ports and terminal infrastructure, and encourage collaboration with key ports in northern Europe such as Rotterdam and Hamburg to develop the necessary export/import infrastructure.

Alongside the plan, Scottish Enterprise announced the commissioning of an international project involving Scottish Power, Wood, KPMG Germany and DS Consulting to explore the potential to export green hydrogen from Scotland to Germany.

Scottish Power will assess renewable energy and hydrogen production capabilities in Scotland, Wood will take on engineering and distribution challenges and DS Consulting and KPMG Germany will identify customer demand and examine infrastructure and regulatory requirements.

The Scot2Ger project, which is also being supported by the Scottish Government, Highlands and Islands Enterprise and South of Scotland Enterprise, will aim to put together a business case for an initial green hydrogen production facility to be developed, constructed and operational by 2024.

Andy McDonald, head of low carbon transition at Scottish Enterprise said: “Global demand and export opportunities for clean hydrogen is increasing and the ‘Scot2Ger’ project will provide a full analysis of a key European market where Scotland can build on its energy expertise and transition agenda.”

Barry Carruthers, hydrogen director at Scottish Power, said: “Scotland has led the way in renewable energy and low carbon technologies. We want to build on this foundation by utilising our plentiful renewable resources to decarbonise our country and create a world-leading green hydrogen industry.

“Green hydrogen offers areas of industry and transportation that can’t be supported by electricity alone a sustainable, long-term, zero carbon energy solution. Working with our partners, and thanks to the funding secured from enterprise agencies, we want to examine the potential of exporting green hydrogen to help other countries, like Germany, and start Scotland’s journey to a thriving green hydrogen economy.”