Tuesday October 3rd 2023
Written by Local Democracy Reporter, Paul Kelly
Two hydrogen hubs earmarked for the south of Scotland could move a step closer reality following a workshop next week.
The Scottish Borders is seen a the perfect location to become a leading hydrogen hub. The area boasts large onshore windfarms and easy access to the east coast’s offshore windfarms.
Two potential hubs have been earmarked for both the Borders and Dumfries & Galloway.
Run in partnership between South of Scotland Enterprise (SOSE) and Scottish Hydrogen & Fuel Cell Association (SHFCA), the workshop will take place on Tuesday, October 10, at Tweed Horizons near Newtown St Boswells.
It will look at how attendees can work together to put the building blocks in place to ensure the hubs are located in the South.
The event is aimed at project developers, supply chain innovators and manufacturers, investors, public agencies, regulators and potential end users of hydrogen across the region.
It will focus on sharing knowledge and how the South can collectively drive the hydrogen economy through bringing together supply-side, demand-side and supply chain representatives.
Speakers at the event will include the Scottish Government, SOSE, SGN, Aqualution Systems, Plus Zero, Scottish Water, SEPA, Cochran Ltd, Storegga, Hydrotrux, Scottish Borders Council, Crafty Distillery and Eco Group.
In particular, the workshop will consider the Scottish Government’s Hydrogen Action Plan. Launched in December 2022, the Action Plan aims to help make Scotland a world leader in hydrogen production and reaffirmed the Government’s ambition for the hydrogen economy to potentially directly or indirectly support up to 300,000 jobs across Scotland.
Included in the Action Plan is the creation of strategically important regional hydrogen hubs, which would include the entire hydrogen value chain, from production, storage and distribution to end-use.
Capitalising on the potential for Scotland to become a leading exporter of hydrogen could contribute between £5 billion and £25 billion a year by 2045, depending on the scale of production and the extent of exports.
Paul Wheelhouse, SOSE’s head of Energy Transition, said: “We see hydrogen as key to delivering a Just Transition to Net Zero and harnessing our huge renewable energy strength as a region.
“We are focused on putting the South at the forefront of Scotland’s drive to become a world leader and to secure the jobs and investment arising from the emerging hydrogen sector.
“Our latest workshop with SHFCA aims to bring together various people and organisations who have an interest in the emerging hydrogen sector to share knowledge and collaborate on how we achieve this goal, with potentially significant new funding opportunities expected to be launched in the months ahead.
“We know there is significant interest in this area, with 100 people in attendance at our first hydrogen event in Dumfries last year, resulting in several promising follow-up enquiries.”
To sign up for the brokerage event and workshop on Tuesday 10 October, which runs from 9.30am to 4pm CLICK HERE.
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