A planning application has been submitted to build Europe’s largest green hydrogen project in Aberdenshire.
Statera Energy - a specialist in battery storage and other types of flexible energy generation - is moving forward with plans to develop the Kintore Hydrogen project in Aberdeenshire.
Statera will spend £600million on developing 500 megawatts of capacity by 2028, before scaling up to three gigawatts by the end of the decade, which is 60% of the Scottish Government's 5GW hydrogen production target.
Green hydrogen is made by splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen with an electrolyser, powered by electricity generated from renewable sources.
Statera hopes that the project will take advantage of the abundant wind power generated in Scotland, which, due to constraints on the network, must sometimes be switched off to prevent the system being overloaded.
Its location close to the River Don will also mean there is a plentiful supply of water, the company said.
Tom Vernon, Statera’s founder and chief executive, said: “The intent is that we would ultimately supply hydrogen to that type of network. Until then, we see blending [hydrogen with other gases] as a viable option, as a stepping stone to get projects such as Kintore off the ground and operating in the UK."
The project is expected to create up to 3,500 jobs during construction and up to 200 jobs on-site once operational.
Statera has said it will be ready to take a final investment decision on the project by 2026 but going ahead will depend on securing government support.