Hydrogen Scotland member Storegga has opened a four-week consultation on its proposal for Speyside Hydrogen, a pioneering project that will produce green hydrogen to fuel operations and support the decarbonisation of distilleries and other businesses across Moray, one of Scotland’s 14 regional hydrogen hubs.
Speyside Hydrogen will see a phased build-out of hydrogen production capacity. The first two phases of the project will deliver a total of 70MW of hydrogen capacity via two electrolyser facilities on a site identified at Ballindalloch, near Marypark in Moray.
The public consultation will run until 5th September with a drop-in public event taking place at Glenlivet Public Hall on Thursday, 22nd August from 12:00 pm to 19:00 pm. Storegga will share its initial design for the development with the community and invite feedback, before finalising the design and preparing applications to Moray Council for both phases of the development. A second event will take place in October to provide relevant updates and share how feedback has been incorporated into development plans.
Neil Hardie, Speyside Hydrogen opportunity manager at Storegga, said: “Moray has a strong heritage of whisky production and innovation and boasts excellent access to renewable energy and transport infrastructure as well as supply chain expertise. Not only does this make it the perfect location for Speyside Hydrogen, but it means our project can ensure culture is preserved by supporting this hard-to-abate industry as we move towards a net-zero economy. We look forward to this opportunity to engage with the local community and to hear their feedback on our proposal.”
Green hydrogen can offer an alternative energy source for whisky production, supporting the industry to reach its ambitious SWA Net Zero target by 2040, five years earlier than the Scottish Government’s target for Net Zero by 2045. The Speyside Hydrogen development at Ballindalloch will support the decarbonisation necessary to help safeguard existing employment at distilleries and their supply chain partners while creating new highly skilled, high-value jobs during the construction and subsequent operation of the facility. The Speyside Green Hydrogen project will produce green hydrogen through the electrolysis of water using renewable electricity.
Scotland is home to 151 whisky distilleries, with more than 50 of these located in Moray, which, between them, account for almost 45% of the total fossil fuel demand in the region. Moray is one of 14 locations identified within the Scottish Government’s Hydrogen Action Plan, and the Scottish Government has recognised low carbon hydrogen as one of the multiple solutions required to replace fossil fuels to achieve the legislated 2045 Net Zero target.
The Moray Hydrogen Strategy was developed by Mott MacDonald for Moray Council with support from Highland and Islands Enterprise (HIE) to coordinate the development of a hydrogen economy in Moray. This strategy was adopted by Moray Council in 2022 and identifies opportunities for hydrogen developments in Speyside, Lossiemouth, Buckie, Keith, and Elgin. Engagement with local businesses and communities during the creation of the strategy revealed a very positive outlook that hydrogen can form part of the solution to achieving net zero within Moray. The strategy demonstrates a demand for hydrogen in Moray due to high levels of manufacturing, with opportunities to develop hydrogen projects as part of a Moray Hydrogen Hub that would provide significant benefits to the local area.
Find out more about the Speyside Hydrogen project here: https://storegga.earth/en-gb/speyside-hydrogen
