ScottishPower and Storegga have formed a partnership to design, build, and operate green hydrogen production plants across Scotland — a move that has the potential to revolutionize industry and transportation in the Highlands.
The Cromarty Hydrogen Project, located just north of Inverness, will be the first to be advanced. The project is expected to generate up to 20 tones of green hydrogen per day beginning in 2024 and has the ability to scale to 300MW through a series of modular expansion phases, depending on customer demand. It will supplant existing fossil fuel sources and enable the provision of green hydrogen to distilleries’ heating processes, with other applications in local manufacturing, food production, and industrial heating.
The Cromarty Hydrogen Project is the result of a successful feasibility study conducted by ScottishPower and Storegga in partnership with major distillers Diageo, Glenmorangie, and Whyte & Mackay – all of which operate in the Cromarty region. As part of reaching one of Scotland’s most valued export sectors’ aggressive carbon reduction targets, the usage of green hydrogen will decarbonize manufacturing processes, so helping to make Scotland’s national drink more environmentally friendly.
Similar projects for other clients and industries are also being discussed.
Due to the fact that green hydrogen is ‘homegrown,’ it clearly helps energy security. Along with increasing the possibility for cleaner industrial heating processes, green hydrogen is poised to alter the country’s heavy transport industry, with clean fuel potentially powering garbage collection trucks, buses, and heavy goods vehicles. Green hydrogen is also an excellent alternative clean fuel for rail, aviation, and maritime transportation.
Barry Carruthers, Hydrogen Director at ScottishPower said: “This is a really exciting milestone in our ambitions to support the growth of green hydrogen production across the country and the decarbonization of heavy industry. We can now get to work on turning plans on paper into tangible and deliverable projects that will transform industry in the Highlands – making a long and lasting difference for people, businesses and communities.
We’re excited to be working with Storegga to help create a clean energy future for this stunning and vital economic region of Scotland.”
Andrew Brown, Head of Hydrogen at Storegga said: “The Cromarty Green Hydrogen Project is expected to be the UK’s largest green hydrogen facility when it commences operations in 2024, and is expected to rapidly expand thereafter.
Storegga has been working with the distilling sector on the energy transition since 2014. In 2019, the Scotch Whisky Association’s Pathway to Net Zero report identified that hydrogen would play a key role in enabling Net Zero for the distilling sector. Phase 1 of the Cromarty Hydrogen Project is expected to be the first of many as we develop a broader green hydrogen manufacturing capacity in Scotland this decade. Storegga is proud to be working with ScottishPower and the distillers on this groundbreaking project.”
