As set out in our Hydrogen Action Plan, hydrogen in the transport sector could act as a complementary energy source alongside electrification, providing an option to parts of the transport sector such as heavy-duty vehicles, when full electrification is challenging. We support the rollout of infrastructure needed for hydrogen vehicles to operate in Scotland: Aberdeen City has two hydrogen refuelling stations.

As set out in our Hydrogen Action Plan, hydrogen in the transport sector could act as a complementary energy source alongside electrification, providing an option to parts of the transport sector such as heavy-duty vehicles, when full electrification is challenging. We support the rollout of infrastructure needed for hydrogen vehicles to operate in Scotland: Aberdeen City has two hydrogen refuelling stations.

The Scottish Government and our Enterprise Agencies support hydrogen developers and businesses across Scotland to grow a pipeline of renewable and low-carbon hydrogen production projects in Scotland and secure the accompanying supply chain opportunities. Over fifty hydrogen production projects are at varying stages of development amounting collectively to more than the 5 GW’s of hydrogen production capacity we hope to have operational by 2030.

We are engaging closely with the Cromarty Hydrogen Project (Storegga) 10.6MW and Scottish Power Whitelees Project 7.1MW both of whom are targeting industrial heat as an offtake for their hydrogen and were successful in their applications for hydrogen business model support from UKG in the first round allocation (HAR1). We provided letters of support for a further 10 projects in Scotland that applied for the UKG’S HAR 2 round.

The Scottish Government continues to build a strong evidence base in relation to the development of key infrastructure, transport routes and supply chains necessary to develop hydrogen export opportunities.

The deployment of green hydrogen production will develop alongside the growth of onshore and offshore wind and the availability of constrained renewable electricity from existing wind farms.

Over fifty hydrogen production projects are at varying stages of development amounting collectively to more than our 5 GW’s of hydrogen production capacity by 2030.

The Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan (ESJTP), due to be published by summer this year, will set clear ambitions for increasing Scotland’s renewable energy capacity. It will outline a route map of actions that the Scottish Government will taketo deliver these ambitions whilst supporting a just transition.

Our Offshore Wind Policy Statement (2020) set out the Scottish Government’s ambition for 8-11 GW of offshore wind in Scotland by 2030. This is currently being reviewed in light of the significant ambition demonstrated by the private sector via the ScotWind leasing round. We also consulted on setting a further ambition for 2045 through the draft Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan.

The Scottish Government remains committed to achieving the ambitions as set out in the 2020 Offshore Wind Policy Statement and will invest up to £500m over the next five years to develop the infrastructure and supply chain critical to growing our offshore wind sector.

As of December 2023, Scotland’s onshore wind operational capacity is around 9.5 GW. Within the project pipeline there is additional 13.9 GW of potential onshore wind capacity in Scotland.

There are several Regional Hydrogen Hubs developing in Scotland. We have provided up to £15m to support the development of the Aberdeen Hydrogen Hub which is now developing as a joint venture between Aberdeen City Council and Bp.

Aberdeen Hydrogen Hub presents an important opportunity to deliver a commercially investable, green hydrogen production facility focussed initially on the decarbonisation of transport and phased to grow into other markets such as industrial heat.

We are building the evidence base to help support other hydrogen hubs to develop in Scotland, examining hydrogen production and potential demand across Scotland’s geography through a number of key reports, such as ‘Hydrogen demand in Scotland: a mapping of industrial and transport applications’ which can be found here and a detailed report focussing specifically on the distillery sector which can be found here .

Data from these reports is also included in Scotland’s Hydrogen Asset online map .

We also published a report last year on the potential capability and interest in Scotland in developing a SAF sector, which could become a major end-use of hydrogen. That report can be found here .

Further engagement in support of hydrogen hub development is ongoing.

The Scottish Government is working with many partners to develop Scotland’s skills base in hydrogen for transport.

Our forthcoming Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan will set out a series of measures the Scottish Government will take to support new and existing workers take advantage of the job opportunities of the net zero transition, and how we will work with industry, trade unions, educational providers and others going forward.

Hydrogen officials are engaging closely with Skills Development Scotland who are working with the energy sector to plan for a multi-skilled workforce, one that can benefit from opportunities across the energy system. This includes enabling skilled offshore workers in the oil and gas sector to carry their experience and expertise into different roles such as hydrogen and renewables as our energy sector evolves.

Various research has been carried out to map out the hydrogen skills landscape and understand the likely skills gaps. This includes ClimateXChange’s Mapping the current and forecasted hydrogen skills landscape for Scotland which was published last year, as well as Aberdeen City Council and BP’s Hydrogen in Scotland Skills and Qualifications Gap Analysis .

Establishing hydrogen transport infrastructure is critical to achieving the ambitions set out in our Hydrogen Action Plan. The Scottish Government is working with key European partners to assess options and opportunities for the development of transport infrastructure to enable the export of hydrogen from Scotland.

Scottish Government is engaging with National Grid on the Project Union initiative exploring the phased repurposing of the UK’s natural gas National Transmission System (NTS) to create a UK hydrogen backbone carrying 100% hydrogen. Decisions on the future of the Gas Grid are a reserved matter and are expected to be made in 2026 by the UK Government. We continue to routinely engage with UK Government on a range of hydrogen policy matters including Transport and Storage Hydrogen Business Models.

We are also working with industry and the development agencies on the development of a Hydrogen Sector Export Plan (HSEP) that will set out the steps needed to realise Scotland's export potential – including in relation to the development of critical infrastructure to support the transport of hydrogen and hydrogen derivatives. This is expected to be published this year.

The Scottish Government and its partners engage with and provide specialist support to companies in Scotland seeking to trade overseas, including help to attend trade shows and establish links with international project developers.