(Bilbao / Glasgow) – The British energy supplier Scottish Power has submitted a planning application to the Scottish authorities for the largest electrolyser in Great Britain with an output of 20 megawatts. The location is “near” the “Whitelee” wind farm in southwest Scotland, about 20 kilometers from Glasgow.
Solar power and battery storage for green hydrogen
The plan also includes a photovoltaic system with an output of 20 megawatts and a battery storage system (up to 50 megawatts) to supply the electrolyzer with energy. The decision on the building applications is expected to take place in autumn 2021 and commercial operations will begin in 2023.
The new plant is designed to produce eight tons of green hydrogen per day. This would allow 550 buses to travel from Glasgow to Edinburgh and back every day. The gas is destined for a “Green Hydrogen for Glasgow” project located on the outskirts of the city and to be developed and operated by BOC, a British industrial gas company that was acquired by its German competitor Linde Group in 2006 for twelve billion euros. Glasgow, which is hosting the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) this year, has set a goal of becoming the first zero-carbon city in the UK by 2030, including by building a zero-emission bus and vehicle fleet that is exclusively... electric or hydrogen powered.
Green Hydrogen for Scotland
It is the first project to be delivered by Green Hydrogen for Scotland, a partnership launched in 2020 between Scottish Power, ITM Power and BOC. The aim is to develop green hydrogen production facilities with clusters of filling stations across Scotland (we reported).
Scottish Power is a subsidiary of Spain's Iberdrola SA, one of the world's ten largest energy suppliers. The Bilbao-based company once built Britain's largest onshore wind farm, Whitelee, with 215 Siemens, Alstom and NEG Micon wind turbines and a total output of 539 megawatts.
Iberdrola is currently developing green hydrogen projects that will provide resources for industry and zero-emission freight transport in Spain and the United Kingdom. The company has submitted 53 projects to the EU Next Generation program that would activate investments worth 2,5 billion euros to achieve an annual production of 60.000 tons of hydrogen.
deep link
https://www.iberdrola.com/press-room/news/detail/iberdrola-brings-green-hydrogen-glasgow
Photos
Scottish Power plans to build an electrolyser near the Whitelee wind farm / © Iberdrola SA
