Green Hydrogen Hub Proposed for Scottish Oil Terminal

Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--Plans have been announced for for a multi-billion-dollar green hydrogen hub project at an oil terminal located on Flotta Island in Orkney, Scotland.

A consortium of companies known as Offshore Wind Power Limited (OWPL), led by Macquarie's Green Investment Group, TotalEnergies (NYSE:TTE) (Paris, France) and Scottish developer Renewable Infrastructure Development Group (RIDG), is proposing an industrial-scale hydrogen facility at the Repsol Sinopec-owned terminal. It has submitted a proposal to the Crown Estate Scotland's offshore wind leasing round (ScotWind) to develop the N1 plan option area west of Orkney. The proposed West of Orkney Windfarm could deliver renewable power to a green hydrogen production facility at the Flotta Terminal. The project also has the support of hydrogen power pioneer, Uniper, and EMEC Hydrogen, which has spearheaded a number of Orkney-based pilot hydrogen projects using wave energy.

"The Flotta Terminal has been in operation since 1976 and has made a significant contribution to Orkney's economy and communities for more than 40 years," said José Luis Muñoz, chief executive officer of Repsol Sinopec. "This project would enable the terminal to be progressively transformed over time into a diversified energy hub where conventional oil and gas operations continue, co-existing alongside the development of a sustainable long-term green future for the facility. The repurposing of Flotta will require local stakeholders support, retaining and upskilling the current workforce as well as the creation of long-term skilled jobs during both construction and hydrogen operations."

Julien Pouget, senior vice president renewables of TotalEnergies, added: "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. With our proposed West of Orkney windfarm, there is an opportunity to create one of the world's first green hydrogen plants in Orkney. It is an exciting plan, and we look forward to working on it with our partners and Orkney stakeholders."

Last week, Industrial Info reported on the ambitious plans by parent company, Repsol Petroleo SA, to become one of Europe's leading suppliers of renewable hydrogen. It revealed that it will install the first electrolyzer in the Basque Country region, with a capacity of 2.5 megawatts (MW) and a cost of approximately US$10 million by the time it is up and running in the second half of 2022. Repsol is the leading producer and consumer of hydrogen in Spain. Its stated goal is to become the leader for renewable hydrogen in the Iberian Peninsula, with the aim to install a capacity of 557 MW-equivalent in 2025 and reach 1.9 gigawatts (GW) in 2030. For additional information, see October 12, 2021, article--Repsol Advances Spanish Hydrogen Projects.

Plans are also afoot at Scotland's largest refinery and petrochemical site at Grangemouth where owner INEOS Group AG (London, England) is investing more than £1 billion (US$1.4 billion) to reduce emissions and fund the construction a "world-scale carbon capture-enabled hydrogen production plant." The new hydrogen plant will initially use gas to produce and use 130,000-150,000 metric tonnes per year (mt/year) to go with the site's current hydrogen production of 30,000-40,000mt/year. The goal will be to move to green hydrogen production from electrolysis powered by renewable electricity after 2030. For additional information, see October 5, 2021, article--INEOS To Spend $1.4 Billion at Scottish Refinery.

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