A new report looks at how oil and gas infrastructure can be repurposed for offshore green and blue hydrogen production in the UK Continental Shelf.
The Scottish Offshore Wind Energy Council (SOWEC) report, commissioned by engineering and technical consultancy Vysus Group, provides an overview of the existing policy and regulatory landscape and cost estimates for necessary supply chain and infrastructure. It also compares options for onshore and offshore production.
Brian McFarlane, SOWEC’s co-chair, said: “Offshore wind is at the heart of a successful energy transition. Scotland has a world-class supply chain working in oil and gas and maritime engineering. This report highlights the readiness of Scottish companies to shift into hydrogen, and also sets out a route map on the political, economic, regulatory, and technological steps needed to enable the transition.”
The report reviews capacity and interest amongst developers to support hydrogen production growth from late 2020s to 2050s.
It sets out a series of recommendations for further work as part of a route map to support growth of hydrogen production using oil and gas infrastructure
The report publication follows Crown Estate Scotland’s recent Innovation and Targeted Oil and Gas (INTOG) leasing round for offshore wind farms to help decarbonise Scotland’s oil and gas sector, and the opening of the Scottish Government’s consultation on a new planning process which will inform the areas to be made available for seabed leases.
The UK Government Hydrogen Strategy aims to make the UK a pioneer world-leading hydrogen economy, with ambitions to create over 9,000 UK jobs and unlock GB£4bn worth of investment by 2030.
By Rebecca Jeffrey
