UP to £7 million of Scottish Government funding has been announced to help kickstart green hydrogen projects across the country.
Businesses will be able to bid for a portion of the funding in order to help with the development stage of green hydrogen projects with a capacity of between 4-500 megawatts (which is equivalent to the production of at least 200 to over 16,000 homes).
Financial support will also be available for work supporting the hydrogen supply chain and storage solutions.
Organisations have until the end of September to apply for a maximum of £2m in funding.
The scheme has been co-developed alongside Scottish Enterprise, who will manage the fund and facilitate the awarding of funding. The new funding sits alongside the almost £7m spent via the Scottish Government’s Hydrogen Innovation Scheme, which has supported 31 projects in Scotland since 2023.
“Our energy sector, and the development of green hydrogen in particular, will play a crucial role in growing Scotland’s economy and delivering on our net zero targets,” said Minister for Climate Action Alasdair Allan.
“This is due to our capability to generate so much renewable energy which is crucial to the process of making green hydrogen.
“This funding – which will help support the development of green hydrogen projects and hydrogen hubs across the country, will, in time, help unlock opportunities in hydrogen for use and export and to power the clean energy intensive industries of the future.
“It demonstrates that Scotland is well positioned to lead the way in developing renewable energy in a way that delivers economic benefits and it also shows our commitment to help grow the hydrogen sector, one of the five priority areas set out in our new Green Industrial Strategy.”
It comes after Net Zero Secretary Gillian Martin said that plans to export hydrogen to Europe would be a “gamechanger” for Scotland’s economy.
Suzanne Sosna, the director of energy transition at Scottish Enterprise, added: “This new fund will help new green hydrogen projects get off the ground, something that is critical if we are to build the hydrogen economy as we aim to in Scotland.
“Renewable energy, including green hydrogen, has the potential to transform Scotland’s economy and Scottish Enterprise is fully committed to helping hydrogen production, storage and offtake businesses as part of that.”
