United Kingdom – Aberdeen City Council and BP have agreed to form a joint venture partnership to build a scalable green hydrogen production, storage, and distribution facility in the city that will be powered by renewable energy.
In response to rising hydrogen demand, the Aberdeen Hydrogen Hub will be built in three stages. The first phase, which includes the delivery of a green hydrogen production and transportation refueling facility powered by a solar farm, is scheduled to begin production in 2024, with over 800 kilograms of green hydrogen per day – enough to fuel 25 buses and a similar number of other fleet vehicles.
Aberdeen City Council and bp have committed £3 million for initial design work, with a final investment decision for the phase one facility build expected in early 2023.
Promoting hydrogen
Production could be scaled up in future phases through additional investment to supply larger volumes of green hydrogen for rail, freight, and marine, as well as supply of hydrogen for heat and potentially export. This expansion would be made possible by the anticipated increased availability of local renewable energy sources, such as developments resulting from the ScotWind offshore wind leasing round.
The Aberdeen Hydrogen Hub program will help Aberdeen City Council achieve its goals of becoming a climate-positive city and fostering inclusive growth by promoting hydrogen supply chain development, skills and training, and wider community benefits. According to a study commissioned by Aberdeen City Council on the growth in demand for hydrogen power, if the hydrogen hub enables the export of renewable hydrogen, up to 700 skilled jobs in the hydrogen industry could be created by 2030.
