TotalEnergies, partners study green hydrogen prospects off Scotland
France's TotalEnergies, together with Scottish developer Renewable Infrastructure Development Group and Australian investment firm Macquarie’s Green Investment Group, announced on October 12 they were looking to produce green hydrogen using wind power off the coast of Scotland.
The companies' consortium, Offshore Wind Power Ltd. (OWPL), is studying the production of green hydrogen at an industrial scale at an oil terminal at the island of Flotta off Scotland.
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Green hydrogen draws on renewable forms of energy to power an electrolyser that splits water into its elemental components. The consortium said they submitted study plans to the government and, if sanctioned, would utilise energy from the West of Orkney wind farm to produce hydrogen at the terminal on Flotta.
“TotalEnergies believes in the potential of renewable offshore wind power to produce green hydrogen, supporting our companies to meet their ambition in terms of carbon neutrality,” Julien Pouget, a senior vice president for the renewables division at TotalEnergies, said. “With our proposed West of Orkney wind farm, there is an opportunity to create one of the world’s first green hydrogen plants in Orkney.”
OWPL is working alongside Flotta terminal owner Repsol and German-based energy company Uniper.
The Scottish government said the "continued growth of the renewable energy sector in Scotland is an essential feature of the future clean energy system and a potential key driver of economic growth."
Scotland would allow developers to apply for the rights to build wind farms specifically for powering oil and gas installations, helping to decarbonise the sector. It also provides an opportunity for projects of 100 MW or less to produce green hydrogen.
The Scottish government is also consulting on the use of offshore wind energy to decarbonise its offshore oil and gas industry.