Scottish oil services port eyes green hydrogen role

Scotland's oil services port Cromarty Firth has signed a preliminary agreement with Norwegian hydrogen producer Gen2 Energy to work on importing green hydrogen from Norway to the UK.

The port aims to become the UK's shipment hub for Gen2 Energy's green hydrogen, which will be converted from excess hydroelectric energy in Norway.

Norway is more advanced in producing hydrogen, and the country's remote northern regions produce surplus renewable power that cannot be fed into the electricity grid, Cromarty Firth port chief executive Bob Buskie said.

"The ability to produce and ship hydrogen to new markets is a huge opportunity for them and they see the port as a key partner to the UK market," he said.

Green hydrogen is produced using renewable power. Alternative blue hydrogen is produced by converting natural gas, with the CO2 arising from the process then stored.

Gen2 Energy is building its first green hydrogen plant in northern Norway, with a scheduled start in December 2023. The facility will have a capacity of 80MW, or 11,700 t/yr of hydrogen. It is also developing a second facility in the southwest of Norway with a planned capacity of 300MW. Trading firm Vitol recently acquired a 10pc stake in the firm, saying hydrogen was a "key part of the path to net-zero".

Cromarty Firth, a sheltered port on the northeast coast of Scotland that has played a key role in supporting the offshore oil and gas industry, is looking to secure a part in the energy transition. This project, Buskie said, will "have a positive effect on Scotland's energy transition plans and provide skilled jobs and business opportunities for decades to come.

"This will give companies throughout Scotland, and indeed the UK, the confidence to switch their infrastructure to clean energy sources, accelerating the decarbonisation process," he said.

The deal between Cromarty Firth and Gen2 Energy will also support Scotland's plan to have at least 5GW of renewable and low-carbon hydrogen production capacity by 2030, Buskie said.

The port's announcement came on the same day the UK government earmarked £166mn ($235mn) for the development of green technology, including carbon capture, greenhouse-gas removal and hydrogen. The plan includes £60mn to support low-carbon hydrogen in the country, and £20mn to "support the development of the next generation carbon capture, usage and storage (CCUS) technologies so they can be deployed at scale by 2030".

The UK has a target of reaching net-zero emissions by 2050 and of reducing emissions by 78pc by 2035 compared with 1990 levels. The country will host November's Cop 26 UN climate change summit in Glasgow, Scotland. Cop 26 is the most important UN climate summit since the 2015 meeting that produced the Paris agreement, because it marks the deadline for countries to update their nationally determined contributions for reducing emissions in line with the Paris treaty.

By Caroline Varin