MEMBER NEWS: Aberdeen begins hunt for partner on £215million green hydrogen hub

June 23, 2021
MEMBER NEWS: Aberdeen begins hunt for partner on £215million green hydrogen hub

Courtesy of Energy Voice.

Aberdeen City Council has launched the hunt for a partner to help it build a “first of its kind” £215million green hydrogen production hub.

The facility, billed as the first “commercially scalable” and “investible” site of its kind in Scotland, would serve the city’s housing, heating and transport systems.

An invitation to tender puts the overall price tag of the facility at £215m, with Aberdeen City Council having “agreed in principle” to fund £19.4m from its capital programme in the project.

A joint venture partner would be expected to provide “finance and investment for the opportunity” as well as resources including scoping, design, project management and other elements.

The split of costs are part of the tender judgement, so how they would be shared with a partner are yet to be decided.

City council leader Jenny Laing said: “This is an important next step in our plans to create long-term, green economic growth in the city.”

The work would be mapped out over three phases, with the first seeing creation of a facility to supply green hydrogen for existing and proposed transport projects, which the council said it anticipated starting up in 2024.

Phase 2 envisages larger volumes such as for rail and marine transport, which would then be upscaled again in phase 3 to supply hydrogen for heat systems.

A joint venture partner would enter into a supply framework lasting a 10-year period with two five-year extension options.

Aberdeen City Council said it builds on the city’s position in helping develop the burgeoning offshore wind sector, while also utilising its array hydrogen vehicles including buses and waste trucks.

Green hydrogen is a type of fuel which is produced via renewable energy, a cleaner and more sought-after fuel than blue hydrogen which is derived from natural gas.

Dolphyn, the world’s first floating wind hydrogen scheme, is planned off the coast of Aberdeen, while the Energy Transition Zone from Opportunity North East has wind manufacturing ambitions.

The city has also penned an agreement with oil major BP to help the region achieve its “net zero vision” by 2045.

Councillor Laing said: “Over the past five years, Aberdeen has established itself as a centre of excellence for hydrogen and fuel cell technologies.

“Taking the energy expertise, experience and infrastructure already in place in Aberdeen, the city has successfully implemented large scale hydrogen projects laying the foundations for more to follow. At the City Region level, there is an opportunity to expand into large scale upstream production and supply for both domestic and export markets through the Aberdeen Hydrogen Hub concept.

“The Hub will capitalise on Aberdeen’s leading role as a pioneering hydrogen city and create a springboard for economic growth, future investment, technology development and job creation across the region.”

The City Council said the announcement comes after a market engagement exercise earlier this year garnered “significant interest” in such a commercial development being put in place.

It added that a hydrogen hub would align with the Scottish Government’s ambition to generate 5GW of renewable and low-carbon hydrogen by 2030.

Read the article on the Energy Voice website here.

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AREG is the original energy transition organisation, working on behalf of members to empower the energy supply chain and champion its expertise. Please get in touch if you have any questions or would like to find out more about membership.

AREG has played an important role in the growth of Scotland’s renewable energy sector, engaging the supply chain and developing the European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre. However, we are only at the very beginning of the transition that AREG was established to both lead and support so there are still opportunities for companies to get into the constantly evolving renewables supply chain. We look forward to continuing our work together as renewables builds on its place as Scotland’s main source of power, and as we seek to deliver real change in the crucial areas of heat and transport.

Scottish Renewables

Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce has worked closely with AREG since its formation. The recent progress in the developments of offshore wind projects by Equinor and Vattenfall are as a result of the work of the group over many years. The north-east is known as the oil and gas capital of Europe. At the Chamber, we believe the region must evolve its position to being recognised as the energy capital. Whilst hydrocarbons will continue to be essential in driving our economy for years to come, the generation of renewable resources will play an increasingly important role in providing cost-effective power, innovative development and economic growth.

Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce

The enthusiasm and dedication of the early group that would become AREG was fundamental in us choosing to launch All-Energy in Aberdeen. The first tiny show was held in 2001, and AREG’s Chairman at the time, Jeremy Cresswell, played such an active role that I often describe him in terms such as All-Energy’s ‘midwife’. All-Energy is now the UK’s largest renewable and low carbon energy exhibition and conference in terms of number of attendees, space booked, and number of exhibiting companies. As AREG became firmly established, their presence and support for the event grew spectacularly over the years. We thank them most sincerely for their invaluable input.

All-Energy

Vattenfall has forged a strong working relationship with AREG through the development of the European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre. AREG has worked tirelessly on behalf of the North East and it can take enormous credit for the growth of sustainable energy in the region and the path it has cleared for the region to capture further investment.

Vattenfall

Aberdeen City and Shire is emerging as a key location for renewables by successfully transferring its world-class oil and gas expertise into the sector and AREG has done much to advance this through a broad range of initiatives. It has acted as a catalyst in driving further investment in the local economy by engaging with companies, Government, public bodies and existing projects and we have been pleased to support their efforts. Scottish Enterprise will continue to engage with AREG as we increase Scotland’s use of renewable energy.

Scottish Enterprise