BP and Aberdeen enter joint venture for green hydrogen hub

BP and Aberdeen City Council have entered a joint venture to develop a hydrogen hub in the Scottish city.

The partnership will enable the construction of a facility for green hydrogen production, storage, and distribution. Called the Aberdeen Hydrogen Hub, the facility will be powered by renewable energy and consist of scalable technology. The joint venture has committed £3m (US$4m) for initial design work.

The hub will be developed in three phases, the first of which will involve building a green hydrogen production and transport facility power by a solar farm. It will have a capacity of 800 kg/d of green hydrogen with first production expected from 2024.

The next phases would involve scaling up the hub to supply larger volumes of green hydrogen for transport including rail and marine, and potentially supply hydrogen for heat and export.

A final investment decision on the first phase is expected in early 2023.

Louise Kingham, BP’s UK Head of Country and Senior Vice President for Europe, said that BP has committed to investing across all the energy transition growth areas in the UK. “[This] announcement is evidence of that commitment in action and is supported by other ambitious plans to produce clean energy from UK offshore wind, develop carbon capture in Teesside and grow the country’s electric vehicle charging network.”

Ryan Houghton, Aberdeen City Council’s Convenor for City Growth and Resources Councillor, said: “Aberdeen City Council has spent £7m to date to deliver a hydrogen programme that in turn has seen us lever in £35m additional investment from external partners. That sends a positive signal to investors that we are delivering our ambition, and a feature of our success is how industry has responded to the opportunity we have created.

“This joint venture with BP provides the city with the expertise to grow a supply chain, develop new skills and jobs and I believe this model will be an exemplar for how councils implement plans to reach net zero.”