UK’s first utility scale green H2 project

Statera Energy has submitted plans for the UK’s first utility scale green hydrogen project to be built in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The project, Kintore Hydrogen, will help balance a renewables-led power system by using surplus renewable energy to produce green hydrogen.

Once constructed, Kintore Hydrogen will be the largest project of its kind in Europe. The first 500 MW of operational capacity is expected to be online by 2028, and when operating at its full 3 GW capacity Kintore Hydrogen could save the emission of up to 1.4 million tonnes of CO₂ per year. The hydrogen produced by Kintore Hydrogen could also play an essential role in decarbonising the UK’s carbon-intensive sectors, for example heavy industry and flexible power generation.

Kintore Hydrogen will also provide significant support to the green skills transition. The project is expected to create up to 3500 jobs during its construction and up to 200 high quality jobs on-site once operational, delivering a projected benefit of £1bn to the UK economy by 2035.

The UK’s Electricity System Operator forecasts a £5bn saving to consumers if flexible demand, like hydrogen electrolysers, is strategically located behind electricity network bottlenecks in Scotland. Kintore Hydrogen’s location, behind those bottlenecks and close to abundant water resources and wind power from the North Sea, can help to deliver these cost savings by using existing gas pipe networks to alleviate constraints on the national power system.

Tom Vernon, CEO of Statera Energy commented: “Over the coming years, the sheer volume of wind generation coming on to the system in the UK will make electrolysers critical for harnessing wind energy that would otherwise go to waste. Kintore Hydrogen is designed to fully capitalise on the potential that hydrogen has to offer. The location and scale of this project means it can make best use of surplus wind power, lowering hydrogen production costs.”

Currently Statera has over 1 GW of UK projects operational or in construction, and over 16 GW in development or consented.