ScottisPower, which is a subsidiary Iberdrola plans to set up a 20 MW green hydrogen project and has submitted an application seeking permit. The plant will be located near the Whitelee onshore wind farm on the outskirts of Glasgow. The project will also use power sourced from a combined solar and battery having 40 MW and 50 MW of capacity respectively.
The plant will have a capacity of producing up to 8 tonnes of hydrogen per day. The decision on the planning application is supposed to be finalised in the autumn of 2021. If approved, the project is expected to be operational by 2023. According to ScottishPower, the hydrogen facility could support Glasgow City Council as well as surrounding local authorities and industries in their ambitions to create a zero-emissions vehicle fleet, using only electric and hydrogen-powered vehicles by the end of 2029.
The UK will need hydrogen to meet its goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, according to the National Grid “future energy scenarios”. Hydrogen “could be the solution to many of the hardest parts of the transition to net-zero”, National Grid says, particularly in long-distance freight, shipping and heavy industry.
REGlobal’s Views: The hydrogen plant – to be constructed next to Scottish Power’s Whitelee onshore windfarm – is one of 53 such projects submitted to the Next Generation EU programme by Iberdrola, which could potentially activate investments of up to €2.5 billion. The scale of this project demonstrates the growing demand for clean hydrogen.
