Aberdeen City Council and BP, via their joint venture BP Aberdeen Hydrogen Energy, have agreed on the final investment decision for its green hydrogen hub, which aims to support Aberdeen’s energy transition.
Following this decision, the joint venture intends to proceed towards the commencement of construction activities, which are expected to begin before the end of 2024. Production of green hydrogen is anticipated to begin in 2026.
The Aberdeen Hydrogen Hub aims to deliver a scalable, green hydrogen production, storage, and distribution facility powered by renewable energy at Hareness Road, Aberdeen. The first phase involves building a hydrogen refuelling facility for buses and trucks on the former Ness landfill site powered by a solar farm.
Once operational, the first phase of the hub will produce over 800kg of green hydrogen per day – enough to fuel 25 buses and a similar number of other fleet vehicles.
Phase two of the project could see production scaled up to supply over three tonnes per day of green hydrogen for road, rail, freight and marine by 2030.
Phase three could scale up further to supply hydrogen for heat in buildings and potentially export. The expansion would be enabled by the expected increased availability of local renewable power sources, including developments that emerge from the 28GW ScotWind offshore wind initiative.
Aberdeen City Council co-leader councillor Ian Yuill said that achieving the final investment decision is an “important step towards the delivery of the Aberdeen Hydrogen Hub project” and will help Aberdeen establish itself as a “leader among cities in bringing hydrogen to market for public transport and council fleet vehicles”.
“This project is central to our vision to increase the supply and demand for hydrogen as a fuel in support of the city’s net zero vision,” Yuill added.
The UK’s hydrogen hubs
With the UK currently targeting 10GW of hydrogen production with 5GW specifically green hydrogen by 2030, various hydrogen hubs have been proposed for around the country, with multiple in Scotland, a region touted to have favourable conditions for large-scale green hydrogen production due to its abundance of wind energy.
For instance, renewable energy developer GreenPower is surging ahead with the development of the Argyll Hydrogen Hub, located on the West coast of Scotland. Green hydrogen will be produced at the hub via a connection to the 46MW Carraig Gheal wind farm near Oban, which will power an electrolyser. The hydrogen will then help the transition from fossil fuels to zero-carbon fuels for ferries, HGVs, buses, trains, industrial processes, and regional heating. It is hoped that the production facility will begin producing hydrogen by the end of 2025.
In late May 2024, it was reported that energy firms Equinor, Centrica, and SSE Thermal were set to collaborate to develop a new hydrogen hub dubbed H2H Easington. Intended to be expanded as the UK’s hydrogen economy does, the project features a multi-stage green and blue hydrogen production facility.
The partnership will also explore the possibility of a dedicated pipeline linking H2H Easington to Equinor’s proposed H2H Saltend hydrogen production facility, as well as Equinor and SSE Thermal’s proposed hydrogen storage facility in East Yorkshire. These projects together form the Humber Hydrogen Hub.
