The UK Government’s launch of its Energy Security Plan, “Powering Up Britain” marks two significant landmarks for Storegga’s proposals to decarbonise Scottish industry, including powering much of the whisky industry through clean fuel.
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero has shortlisted our Cromarty Hydrogen Project for due diligence and negotiation to secure Electrolytic Hydrogen Business Model funding support.
Subsequent award of a Hydrogen Business Model Contract in Q4 2023 will enable Storegga and our partner ScottishPower to proceed with the Final Investment Decision and installation of the Cromarty Hydrogen Project.
As we work toward commencing the construction phase of Cromarty Hydrogen, we will be able to create 90 jobs in the first phase, with more to follow as the project subsequently expands.
The first of those new jobs should arrive during 2024, ensuring that we can contribute to the opening up of opportunities which can help reverse the trend of young people leaving the Highlands in search of prosperity elsewhere.
In its first phase, we’ll use the full 29MW capacity of the Beinn Tharsuinn wind farm to produce an average 11,000kg of hydrogen each day. For the long-term, Cromarty Hydrogen’s production has the potential rise to 110,000kg per day, increasing the volume available to be delivered throughout the region’s distilleries and to other industries beyond, through gas distribution pipelines.
Storegga’s projects are focussed on supporting a just transition while decarbonising industry and generating clean-burning fuel for the future, as fossil fuels are phased out. At Cromarty, we know we can deliver on that promise.
We firmly believe we can deliver the potential of our best-known development, the Acorn Project – the backbone of the Scottish Cluster. The next junction toward realising it was also marked by Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero Grant Shapps MP’s plan.
Previously selected as the Track-1 reserve, the Scottish Cluster’s Acorn Transportation & Storage network and facilities are recognised as the only way to securely lock CO2 from Scottish industry away, deep below the surface of the North Sea.
Acorn has received match funding from the UK and Scottish Governments and has benefited from two rounds of Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) funding from the European Commission.
We would also decarbonise some volumes of North Sea natural gas coming ashore at St Fergus, through the Acorn Hydrogen project, creating the clean-burning fuel and sequestering CO2 for storage through Acorn T&S.
With the Government’s launch of the Track-2 process we are focussed on taking up the vitally important opportunity to apply significant learnings taken from Track 1.
These announcements bring much-needed investor confidence to support our critical decarbonisation projects, which will position the UK alongside its international neighbours in the economic race to Net Zero. We are optimistic, but not complacent, about the stage we are at in delivering on our vision.