United Kingdom – Statera Energy has submitted plans for the UK’s first utility scale green hydrogen project to be built in Aberdeenshire. 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 up to 1.4 million tonnes of CO2 per year.
This nationally significant project will help balance the UK’s power system, enabling the development of more renewable energy sources like offshore wind. The green 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.
Tom Vernon, CEO Statera Energy, 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 to energy users.
Over the coming years, the sheer volume of wind generation coming onto the system in the UK will make electrolysers critical for harnessing wind energy that would otherwise go to waste. Kintore Hydrogen will convert surplus wind power to green hydrogen to be used when and where it is needed most.