Scottish Cities Alliance

When it comes to green energy initiatives, Scotland is going in the right direction – with Inverness at the heart of some exciting new projects.

And the latest piece of good news for the Highlands is that a site for producing, storing and distributing hydrogen has been proposed for the city.

Developer H2 Green has signed a deal with gas distribution company SGN to create the hub.

The companies noted that the site could produce eight tonnes of hydrogen per day – that’s enough day’s fuel for 800 HGVs – and they added that the hub could have the capacity to reduce carbon emissions by 30,000 tonnes per year. 

Inverness is to be the first of 21 SGN sites across Scotland and England to be developed as a hydrogen hub.

And the Inverness hub could also provide zero-carbon heat and medical-grade oxygen for hospitals, fish farms and water treatment works in the area. 

But of course, this isn’t just a tale of one city – the development is part of a nationwide drive towards a greener, sustainable future. 

Near Glasgow, Whitelee Windfarm is at the centre of Scotland’s hydrogen energy production, and £9.4million has been allocated for the first phase of development for ScottishPower’s 20MW hydrogen production and storage facility at the site.

In Edinburgh, the city’s Napier University is helping to conduct a feasibility study into an innovative distillery, The Orkney Distillery, which is hoping to use hydrogen as fuel to decarbonise the distilling process in gin making.

And in Aberdeen, the city is at the centre of several hydrogen projects with one of the largest fleets of hydrogen buses in Europe (which has delivered more than one million passenger miles) and the UK’s first integrated hydrogen generation and bus refuelling station. The Granite City already has 65 hydrogen fleet vehicles, including the buses, refuse trucks, road sweepers, vans and cars.

Meanwhile, Glasgow is to get the world’s largest fleet of hydrogen-powered refuse trucks, 19 in total, following the announcement of £6.3 million in UK Government funding. The investment also includes the building of a green refuelling station in the city. 

These will be among the first zero emission hydrogen refuse collection lorries developed in the UK.

And in Dundee, the city is expected to get twelve hydrogen fuel cell electric buses this year. 

The hydrogen push is also taking shape in Scotland’s skies, with easyJet set to become the world’s first major airline to use green hydrogen fuelled aircraft on commercial flights.

The airline is planning to use eco-friendly hydrogen cell technology on passenger flights as early as 2030 in an attempt to slash its carbon footprint.

This would mean that passengers flying out of airports such as Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow could take environmentally friendly flights or business.

So it’s fair to say that hydrogen projects across Scotland are really taking off – with many more business opportunities to come.

Read more about hydrogen projects underway across the Scottish cities here.