Aberdeen City Council and BP have signed an agreement to form a joint venture partnership that will deliver a scalable green hydrogen production, storage and distribution facility in the city powered by renewable energy.
The Aberdeen Hydrogen Hub is to be developed in three phases in response to growing demands for hydrogen.
Phase one, which involves delivery of a green hydrogen production and transport refuelling facility powered by a solar farm, is due to start production from 2024, delivering more than 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 – which will operate the joint venture under the name bp Aberdeen Hydrogen Energy Limited – have committed £3m for initial design work with a final investment decision for the phase one facility build expected in early 2023.
Future phases could see production scaled up through further 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 enabled by the expected increased availability of local renewable energy sources, including developments that emerge from the ScotWind offshore wind leasing round.
Louise Kingham CBE, BP’s UK head of country and senior vice president for Europe, said, “With these new business opportunities underpinned by our long-standing position in North Sea oil and gas, we are showing what an integrated energy company can do.
“And all of this couldn’t be possible without the skills and experience of a talented workforce and supply chain, eager to help make the UK’s net zero ambitions a reality.”
