PRESS RELEASE : Green growth for Scotland with multi billion pound investment [March 2023]

New jobs and investment are set to come to Scotland as the UK Government today unveils ambitious plans to scale up affordable, clean, homegrown power and build thriving green industries in Britain.

After decades of reliance on importing expensive, foreign fossil fuels, the UK Government is delivering a radical shift in our energy system towards cleaner, more affordable energy sources to power more of Britain from Britain.

New green technologies, set to be developed and deployed here in Scotland, including carbon capture usage and storage (CCUS) and hydrogen, will spearhead the government’s new Energy Security Plan.

Today, the UK Government is launching Track-2 of the CCUS cluster sequencing process to identify the next two CCUS clusters that will contribute to our ambition to capture 20-30 megatonnes of CO2 per year across the economy by 2030.  At this stage, we consider the Acorn Transport and Storage System in Aberdeenshire one of the two best placed to deliver our objectives.

This announcement follows the confirmation in the Spring Budget of £20 billion for CCUS, future-proofing jobs in the industrial heartlands, including the North Sea, contributing to a half a million new green jobs set to be created and supported across the country.

Energy Security Secretary Grant Shapps is also launching the £160 million fund for projects to build the port infrastructure needed to support further floating offshore wind, through the Floating Offshore Wind Manufacturing Investment Scheme, with Scottish ports well placed to bid for funding. This scheme will support investment in the infrastructure needed to meet the UK’s ambition of up to 5GW of floating offshore wind by 2030, supported by a substantial pipeline of potential projects off Scotland and in the Celtic Sea.

The UK Government has set an ambition for 10GW of hydrogen production by 2030 – which could generate enough clean electricity to power all of London for a year.

Scotland will be central to these plans, with four of the first fifteen projects announced today to be given a share of the £240 million Net Zero Hydrogen Fund (NZHF) to develop new low carbon hydrogen production plants. Hydrogen will play an important role in helping intensive industries such as chemicals, steel and cement convert to using clean energy.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said:

Thanks to our unique geography and strong expertise in clean technology, the UK is well placed to create thriving new industries in carbon capture, hydrogen and floating offshore wind across the country.

By investing in new ways to power Britain from Britain, we will not only strengthen our long-term energy security, but also deliver on our promise to grow the economy with well-paid jobs and opportunities for businesses to export their expertise around the world.

Energy Security and Net Zero Minister Graham Stuart said:

Scotland will be at the heart of our plans to power up Britain, as we support its development of new home-grown technologies of the future.

Today’s announcement will create opportunities for Scottish businesses to export their expertise around the world and set the standard for a clean, secure and prosperous future.

UK Government Minister for Scotland John Lamont said:

Scotland’s green energy potential is at the heart of the UK Government’s plans to deliver energy security, drive investment and grow the economy by developing clean domestic power sources.

Every household in Scotland and across the UK have felt the impact of energy prices and that’s why the UK Government has already taken significant action to ease cost of living pressures. This new, extensive package of measures will help reduce bills in the long term.

From the carbon capture sector where we are progressing at pace and investing up to £20 billion to help decarbonise our industries, to offshore wind, funding for low carbon hydrogen projects, and making the Contracts for Difference round an annual event, Scotland is a key part of the UK’s net zero plans and helping to boost economic growth through green jobs.

Scotland’s winning Net Zero Hydrogen Fund (NZHF) projects are:

• Statera, based in Kintore, plan to develop a 3GW, grid connected, electrolytic hydrogen project that aims to use excess wind power in Scotland to produce low-carbon, green hydrogen and supply it to the UK’s most carbon intensive industrial clusters through existing gas transmission pipelines.
• Octopus Energy’s Lanarkshire Green Hydrogen project plans to deploy 15MW of electrolysis directly connected to an onshore wind farm, to produce over 3.5 tonnes per day of green hydrogen.
• Falck Renewables plans to develop their Knockshinnock Green Hydrogen Hub Project which will deliver one of the first fully off-grid renewable hydrogen supply systems on the mainland UK, and once operational, will supply over 160 tonnes of low-carbon hydrogen per year.
• Getech aims to build a major green hydrogen hub in Inverness that will produce, store and dispense green hydrogen, upwards of 10 tonnes a day over time.

Alongside this, five Scottish companies have been shortlisted to proceed to the next stage of the process for the first electrolytic hydrogen allocation round (HAR1)  to kick start the low carbon hydrogen economy across the UK and help meet the country’s wider net zero target.  These are:

• ERM Dolphyn
• Pale Blue Dot Energy
• SSE Renewables
• RES and Octopus Green Hydrogen
• Scottish Power

Today’s plans will help deliver on the Prime Minister’s promise to grow the economy across Scotland, supporting new green jobs, creating a strategic advantage in new clean industries, and generating opportunities for Scottish businesses to export their expertise around the world.