The hydrogen sector will receive £100 million over the next five years, the Scottish Government has announced.
The country aims to generate 5GW of renewable and low-carbon hydrogen by 2030, enough to power the equivalent of 1.8 million homes as part of the government’s new Hydrogen Policy Statement.
Scotland’s Energy Minister, Paul Wheelhouse, commented on the announcement: “We are the first country in the UK to publish a Hydrogen Policy Statement that sets out how we can make the most of Scotland’s massive potential in this new sector.
“Hydrogen is rapidly emerging across the international community as a sustainable solution for the decarbonisation of the economy and a key element of the energy transition picture.
“Scotland is prepared to play its full part together with other European nations – that’s why we’re publishing this key policy statement today and investing £100 million of Scottish Government resources to stimulate the sector and its supply chain.
“Scotland has, in abundance, all the raw ingredients necessary for the production of low-cost hydrogen as well as one of the largest concentrations of offshore engineering expertise in the world that can harness Scotland’s renewable energy potential in technologies like wind, wave and tidal power, to produce green hydrogen.
“Indeed, Scotland is one of the best placed nations anywhere in the world to develop competitively priced hydrogen for our own economy’s needs and to generate a surplus in supply to export to other European nations with emerging demand, but insufficient supply to meet their own needs.
“No one fuel or technology is, by itself, the solution to climate change, but hydrogen has the potential to be a very important part of a progressive, decarbonised energy system supporting our transition to net zero in transport, heating and industrial decarbonisation.
“We are committed to supporting this emerging sector to deliver a transformation in how we produce, store and utilise energy and to maximising the economic benefits that the production of hydrogen can bring.”
Economic impact research suggests the hydrogen industry has the potential to be worth up to £25 billion a year to the Scottish economy by 2045.
The Hydrogen Policy Statement will provide the framework for the development of a Hydrogen Action Plan in 2021, which will offer further details on the planned approach and necessary actions to implement the policy positions outlined in the Policy Statement.
The UK Government will publish their Hydrogen Strategy in 2021 and have set a
target of 5GW of low-carbon hydrogen by 2030.
The Hydrogen Policy Statement can be read on the Scottish Government website.
