Land of the renewables

Figure 1. The Cromarty Firth is suitable for accommodating the largest offshore wind components, such as turbine blades, tower sections, and foundations.

Christopher Smith, Port of Cromarty Firth,

Scotland, explains how green hydrogen is altering the energy landscape of Scotland and the Highlands.

Scotland is undergoing a rapid energy transformation which is dramatically altering the landscape, both environmentally and economically, of the nation’s energy consumption – and with it the UK and Europe.

The catalyst is renewables, principally hydrogen. It has gathered pace since the Scottish Government released its ambitions around achieving a net zero carbon economy by 2045. This has galvanised an already advanced infrastructure, creating new pathways and laying the foundations for a clean energy economy that is massive in both size and scale.

Scotland’s move to 100% renewable

Before the government crystallised its net zero ambitions, Scotland was well advanced in transforming its energy production to low carbon. The result has been that its electricity generation by last year stood at nearly 100% renewable – 97.4% to be precise, according to Energy Statistics for Scotland.

Further analysis of this change in electricity generation showed that in 15 years there had been an 82% increase in low carbon energy, and an 8% rise between 2019 and 2020. Of this,

60.3% was generated by onshore wind, 18.1% by renewable hydro, and 10.7% by offshore wind.

Onshore, offshore, and floating offshore wind has led the shift towards decarbonisation, with significant cost reductions made over the last two decades. However, their success has also exposed a key element that needs to be overcome if further advances are to be made – and that is how to both store excess wind energy and create a regular supply if the wind is not blowing.

One key solution is the creation of a hydrogen economy. Hydrogen produced from renewable energy is a carbon-free fuel that can be used in place of fossil fuels, which are currently responsible for the bulk of global greenhouse gas emissions. The chemical make-up of green hydrogen means it only emits water when burned, so it can be made without releasing carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere.

Blue or green

There are different types of hydrogen that can be used to aid climate goals, with the main forms being blue and green. Blue hydrogen is created when natural gas is split into hydrogen and CO2 either by steam methane reforming (SMR) or auto thermal reforming (ATR). This is very much the way hydrogen has always been created as an energy source (known as grey hydrogen) but the difference for blue is that greenhouse gases used in the process are captured through carbon capture usage and storage (CCUS) technologies that remove CO2

Figure 2. Onshore, offshore, and floating offshore wind is leading the shift towards decarbonisation. generated.

Green hydrogen is produced by splitting water through electrolysis, producing hydrogen and oxygen. Hydrogen is used as energy while the oxygen is vented into the atmosphere or captured for use in industries such as aquaculture. The process is powered by renewable energy sources such as wind. This makes green hydrogen a cleaner option, as it avoids generating any CO2. According to the latest research from the UK Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST), green hydrogen is currently more expensive than blue hydrogen to produce, but is expected to become cheaper in the 2030s.

In the past year, the Scottish Government set itself another target – for Scotland to become a leading nation in hydrogen, generating 5 GW of renewable and low-carbon hydrogen by 2030. This would be enough hydrogen to power the equivalent of 1.8 million homes.

The Scottish Government matched this vision with cash – £100 million over the next five years. The foundation for this vision stems from Scotland’s abundant offshore wind resource with the potential to be a vital component in the nation’s netzero transition. If used to produce green hydrogen, offshore wind can help abate the emissions of historically challenging sectors such as heating, transport, and industry, which are difficult to decarbonise using electrification alone.

Figure 3. The North of Scotland Hydrogen Programme is built around plans for an onshore electrolyser within the Cromarty Firth.

Unlocking a clean power resource

Green hydrogen production from offshore wind could help overcome Scotland’s grid constraints and unlock a massive clean power generation resource, creating a clean fuel for industry and domestic households and feeding a rapidly-growing UK and European market.

The Wupperthal Institute, the German research institute for climate, environment, and energy, constructed a model of what a future hydrogen market across Europe could look like.

Its European Transnational Hydrogen Backbone outlined which countries would produce

‘excess’ hydrogen that could be exported to others with a hydrogen ‘deficit’ through a network of pipelines.

One such country with a future capacity to be a key exporter is Scotland. To realise this, much work needs to be undertaken quickly. Already key contributors towards a hydrogen economy are ramping up their plans for further development. Among the most prominent contributors towards a hydrogen economy are: The Hydrogen Office in Methil, Fife, Aberdeen’s Energy Transition Zone, Orkney’s 100% Green Electricity and Big HIT, and the North Scotland Hydrogen Programme, which would see a green hydrogen hub on the Cromarty Firth.

The importance of the hydrogen valleys

North of Scotland Hydrogen Programme feeds into a key component of Scotland’s hydrogen ambitions – to establish ‘hydrogen valleys’. They are geographical areas where several applications involved in the process of hydrogen combine into an integrated ecosystem delivering huge momentum in the market so a security of supply can be established, allowing those who want access to the clean energy to have the confidence to switch their infrastructure.

The programme comprises a number of projects, the principal of which is the construction of a large scale onshore electrolysis facility. A kickstarter Distilleries Project is underway, with partners ScottishPower and Pale Blue Dot Energy, the Port of Cromarty Firth, plus drinks firms Glenmorangie, Whyte & Mackay, and Diageo – researching the opportunity to establish a green hydrogen hub to provide distilleries in the region with hydrogen to assist in decarbonising their heating.

This electrolyser will be powered by electricity from renewable sources. It will be onshore within the Cromarty Firth, one of the UK’s largest natural harbours whose deep waters are a central point for both offshore and onshore wind.

Indeed, the significance in Port of Cromarty Firth as a hub for the electrolyser is due to its excellent proximity to 14 of the 15 sites identified for future offshore wind and floating offshore wind projects in Scotland, predicted to be worth £26 billion to Scotland over the next 50 years.

North of Scotland Hydrogen Programme

Figure 4. The Port has excellent proximity to 14 of the 15 sites identified for future offshore wind and floating offshore wind projects in Scotland.

Figure 5. An electrolyser would provide hydrogen for transport – including special hydrogen-fuelled vessels. Scaling up renewables such as offshore wind has the potential to deliver vast quantities of green hydrogen. Nigel Holmes, Chief Executive of the Scottish Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Association (SHFCA), explained: “Production of green hydrogen is a fantastic way of converting renewable energy into transportable and storable low carbon energy. In Scotland, we have the infrastructure and brains to make this work on a massive scale.

“We can create and scale up projects, such as the North of Scotland Hydrogen Programme, building green energy port hubs which can supply local demand and other locations. Economies of scale for green hydrogen production will kickstart new projects that will be invaluable in achieving the Scottish Government’s target of 5 GW low carbon production capacity by 2030. “It is vital to remember the 2030 target is now less than nine years away. Green hydrogen production in locations such as Cromarty will be an important catalyst for development of low carbon industry clusters. It is important that they are not only built sooner rather than later, but that they give industries such as the Scotch whisky sector the confidence to realise their plans to become net zero.”

Existing infrastructure can go green

Another key element of the electrolyser plan is what happens to the green hydrogen following the electrolysation process. This again feeds into the Scottish Government’s hopes that Scotland’s extensive and existing port and pipeline infrastructure can be repurposed for hydrogen exports to the rest of the UK and Europe.

The North of Scotland Hydrogen Programme makes use of the Port of Cromarty Firth’s current infrastructure to store and transport the hydrogen in large quantities. Hydrogen as an energy carrier has a relatively low volumetric energy density compared to fossil fuels, requiring a different approach. Moving hydrogen between ports in the UK using bulk scale carriers would balance supply and demand and enable the hydrogen market to expand more quickly.

This means the Port would feed, through its deep, sheltered waters, a market that will allow hydrogen to be shipped to the rest of the UK and beyond. Closer to home, it will provide hydrogen for transport – including special

hydrogen-fuelled vessels to take service engineers from the coast to the offshore wind farms – heat and industry, with the distilleries likely to be the first customers.

Nigel added: “The Port of Cromarty Firth and its partners have developed a compelling vision in a short space of time. That is because they realise they have the right location and the right ingredients to make hydrogen work. Green hydrogen is clearly the future, but at the moment it is expensive when produced at small scale. Early industry adopters, such as the food and drink sector, require established and reliable supply at a realistic cost.

“The development of offshore wind-hydrogen production with projects such as the ERM Dolphyn has the potential to bring the cost of green hydrogen down to the target of US$2/kg by 2030. Port of Cromarty Firth is already an established hub for shipping fuels to markets across the world, and with this existing infrastructure the Port’s team can made things happen quickly.”

Hydrogen and Scotch whisky

Hydrogen will also allow established industries, key to the prosperity of Scotland, to make the switch to carbon-free production methods. One such industry is whisky, and the Scotch Whisky Association has already laid out the need to decarbonise fully by 2045 in its ‘Scotch Whisky Pathway to Net Zero’ report.

That is why the North of Scotland Hydrogen Programme also involves the distilleries of Glenmorangie, Whyte & Mackay, and Diageo which want to source hydrogen so they can decarbonise the production of their whisky.

Shane Healy, Distilling Director for Whyte & Mackay – which has two distilleries on the Cromarty Firth (Invergordon and Dalmore) – says the industry is looking long-term to a balanced approach using a mix of green fuel sources from hydrogen, biomethane, and biomass, as well as green electricity to create the sustainable energy needed for its distilling processes.

He said: “For our Highland operations, green hydrogen is the best option as a long-term key green energy source, as we are close to the infrastructure of wind turbines in the North Sea and have abundant access to water. We are also looking long-term at a possible use of desalinated sea water to take advantage of our proximity to the sea, to add to our fresh loch water to make our green hydrogen.”

Shane said such a scenario is vital for the future of the Scotch whisky industry in Scotland – a high value product enjoying significant demand around the globe. With quality whisky taking years to mature, the need to reassure these customers that their product, which could be produced today and may be matured for many decades, has been made using carbon-free methods.

He said: “Whyte & Mackay has recently celebrated 175 years and we want be around for 175 and more years to come. For that to happen we must embrace carbon neutral methods, and build them into our infrastructure so that in the long-term, thinking decades into the future, we will be laying our whisky down the line in an entirely sustainable way.”

Figure 6. The Port of Cromarty Firth’s deep, sheltered waters have for decades provided the perfect base for companies to launch their operations. However, for industry to establish the necessary infrastructure, it must be able to guarantee supply. As a result the Port of Cromarty Firth has also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Norwegian firm Gen2 Energy AS to create a commercial pathway to import green hydrogen from Norway into the UK energy market. The partnership will provide a security of supply for the electrolyser facility, and will guarantee green hydrogen to those who want access to the clean energy by mid-2023, so they have the confidence to make concrete plans to begin switching their infrastructure.

R&D for jobs

The North of Scotland Hydrogen Programme’s influence is not restricted to hydrogen itself. There are many business and personal opportunities that will also be realised. Opportunity Cromarty Firth (OCF) was set up last year, made up of over a dozen partners from the private, academic and public sectors, including the Port of Cromarty Firth, University of the Highlands and Islands, and The Highland Council, with the ambition of the Cromarty Firth becoming a ‘Freeport’. One of OCF’s first moves was to set up the PowerHouse, a global centre of excellence in the research and development of floating offshore wind and green hydrogen technologies. Bob Buskie, Chief Executive of the Port of Cromarty Firth, said: “The opportunities presented by green hydrogen are vast and its importance to the Cromarty Firth, the Highlands, Scotland, and beyond cannot be underestimated. These developments will bring skilled jobs and high-wage opportunities to the Highlands on a level not seen since the oil boom of the 1970s. “We have already developed a substantial track record in renewables and supported more offshore wind projects than any other Scottish location. But such is the size and scope of this operation that we cannot act alone. For our industry to fully capitalise on this breadth of ambition, we need to collaborate, pool our resources, and ensure through partnerships that the infrastructure and technologies are created in Scotland to meet this overwhelming demand for hydrogen and then export this expertise around the globe as other countries decarbonise.”