Iberdrola subsidiary ScottishPower is planning a “multi-hundred” megawatt electrolyser in the container port of Felixstowe, eastern England, to supply fuel for heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) and rail transport on site — with an eye on later exporting H2 derivatives to international markets.
Slated for 100MW in its first phase, the electrolyser will be powered by new renewables projects, including the company’s giant offshore wind projects currently under development in the North Sea.
The £150m ($182m) project could produce 14,000 tonnes per year of green hydrogen, enough to fuel 1,300 HGVs per day — almost a quarter of the 6,000 that pass through the port area on a daily basis.
Scottish Power and its partner in the project, Felixstowe port owner Hutchison, have applied to receive financial support from the UK’s Net Zero Hydrogen Fund for the engineering studies required ahead of a final investment decision.
Later stages of the project could see the electrolyser scaled up to the “multi-hundreds” of megawatts, and hydrogen production expanded to include liquefaction and production of green ammonia or e-methanol for export to international markets.
Power for the electrolyser will be sourced from new renewable energy projects, which could include onshore wind, solar PV and Iberdrola’s own local offshore wind projects.
“This strategically important project could potentially create a clean fuels hub that could unlock nationally significant decarbonisation for the region, as well as playing a role in international markets,” said Barry Carruthers, hydrogen director at ScottishPower. “It’s perfectly located not far from our existing and future offshore wind farms in the East Anglia region, and demonstrates how renewable electricity and green hydrogen can now start to help to decarbonise road, rail, shipping and industry.”
Green label
The Spanish utility is currently developing a vast 3.1GW offshore wind farm, the East Anglia Hub, off the coast of Felixstowe, of which the final 1.7GW was granted planning permission in March this year.
The company’s 714MW East Anglia ONE offshore wind farm came on line in 2020.
In the event that power is sourced from elsewhere, the Felixstowe green hydrogen partners will sign power-purchase agreements to ensure 100% renewable electricity supply, a spokesperson for Scottish Power told Recharge, thereby ensuring the hydrogen can legitimately be called “green“.
The UK has no firm rules in place on what can be called “green” hydrogen, but defines "low carbon hydrogen" in emissions intensity terms: the equivalent of 2.4kg of CO2 per kg of H2.
The industry-led Green Hydrogen Standard lays out strict criteria for the “green” label however, including production emissions intensity of less than 1kg of CO2 per kg of H2, and the use of electrolysis from water powered by 100% renewable electricity.
The announcement comes just weeks after the UK unveiled the world's first national hydrogen subsidy scheme, which could help fund the Felixstowe proposal.
The first stage of the project is scheduled to be operational by 2026, and will be the third green H2 scheme planned by Iberdrola in the UK.
The company is also developing a "series" of green hydrogen projects in Scotland in partnership with carbon capture expert Storegga, starting in Cromarty, near Inverness. And it is also planning to install an electrolyser at its Whitelee onshore wind farm outside Glasgow, due to come on stream in 2023.
