Green hydrogen plans for Scottish port

ScottishPower, through its recently launched green hydrogen business, has signed an agreement for green hydrogen production at Global Energy Group’s site at the offshore wind-focussed Port of Nigg. The agreement will see green hydrogen generated and used to power heavy plant, machinery and vehicles used in daily operations at the Scottish port site, and to power high temperature, energy intensive processes like the manufacturing of offshore wind components.

Global Energy Group’s chief executive officer, Tim Cornelius, commented: “Green hydrogen presents us with a major opportunity and we are thrilled to begin working with ScottishPower. The benefits go beyond lowering our own carbon emissions in our operations at Nigg, but also potentially gives us the ability to support the wider Cromarty Firth and Highland area with their operations and net zero targets.”

The partnership between ScottishPower and Global Energy Group will now begin with a feasibility study to assess the full potential range of processes that could be supported by hydrogen and the most efficient and innovative way of delivering an end-to-end hydrogen production facility at the Port of Nigg.

The port has already supported the construction of two of Scotland’s largest offshore wind farms and was recently awarded the marshalling, storage and logistics base for Seagreen Offshore Wind Farm, a 1,075MW offshore wind farm in the Firth of Forth.

Electrification plays a big part in decarbonisation, there are still some parts of the economy that are hard to electrify and this is where green hydrogen can be utilised, said Barry Carruthers, ScottishPower’s hydrogen director.