Consortium secures £9.4m of funding for Scottish hydrogen storage project

23 November 2021

The Green Hydrogen for Scotland Consortium has announced that it has been successful in its application for funding from the Energy Innovation Portfolio competition run by the UK Government Department of Business Energy Innovation and Skills (BEIS). The £9.4m of funding will support investment for the first Phase of development for ScottishPower’s 20MW Whitelee Windfarm hydrogen production and storage facility.

Representative image: Shutterstock

The Green Hydrogen for Scotland Consortium partners are ScottishPower, BOC and ITM Power. The Energy Innovation Portfolio funding is for a 10MW electrolyser and associated four tonnes of storage, and is the first phase in the development of the 20MW facility, for which a planning application was submitted on 12 April 2021, to be sited at Whitelee Wind Farm near Glasgow, the UK’s largest onshore wind farm. The project forms part of the recently announced contracts backlog (in negotiation) for ITM Power.
The project is designed to provide carbon-free transport and clean air for communities across the city and wider central belt region, with Glasgow aiming to become the first net-zero city in the UK by 2030. The facility aims to supply hydrogen to the commercial market by the end of 2023.
The funding support marks an important step for the creation of commercial-scale green hydrogen production which will ensure transportation and industrial sectors can access zero-emission hydrogen in the transition away from fossil fuels. By using renewable electricity and water as inputs to the hydrogen production process, this clean, green form of hydrogen will be critical in reducing carbon dioxide and greenhouse gas emissions across the economy.
Energy and Climate Change Minister Greg Hands said: "This first-of-a-kind hydrogen facility will put Scotland at the forefront of plans to make the UK a world-leading hydrogen economy, bringing green jobs to Glasgow, while also helping to decarbonise local transport – all immediately following the historic COP26 talks. Projects like these will be vital as we shift to a green electricity grid, helping us get the full benefit from our world-class renewables, supporting the UK as we work to eliminate the UK’s contribution to climate change."
The Energy Innovation Portfolio competition looked for innovative, replicable large-scale energy storage solutions which could provide a market competitive alternative to conventional commercial large-scale energy storage technologies. Innovative large-scale energy storage will play an important role in decarbonising industry, power, heat and transport.
Commenting on the award, Graham Cooley, CEO, said: “We are very pleased to be a partner in Green Hydrogen for Scotland and this first project, Green Hydrogen for Glasgow, will see the deployment of the largest electrolyser to date in the UK.”
Barry Carruthers, ScottishPower Hydrogen Director, said: “Now COP26 has ended, we need to continue to move forward, taking action to invest in the clean, green energy the UK needs to reach Net Zero. As Principal Partner for the conference we welcome this investment in a blend of renewable electricity generation and green hydrogen production promises to highlight the multiple ways in which society can decarbonise by using these technologies here and now.”
Jim Mercer, Business President, BOC UK & Ireland said: "The Green Hydrogen for Glasgow project is both innovative and exciting. It will help to shape the future of energy storage and demonstrate the value of hydrogen to Scotland’s growing low-carbon economy. This project will accelerate development across multiple disciplines – from production and storage, to transportation and end use."