A cash injection will bring 100 jobs to Speyside as part of a £3.1 million fund to develop a “greener” industry.
It’s part of plans to develop a so-called hydrogen hub in Moray, where water is split into hydrogen and oxygen using renewable energy.
It can be used for fuel for transportation, commercial and industrial heat or stored to meet future demand.
The green hydrogen produced in Speyside will provide fuel and energy for more than 40 industrial sites across the region including whisky distillers and distiller hauliers.
The project is expected to save around 190,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year.
This is the equivalent of a 35% drop in the Scottish whisky sector’s 2018 baseline emissions or the same as taking around 135,000 cars from roads in Scotland.
Jobs boost
Gillian Martin, the Scottish Government’s acting energy secretary, said the funding will help create job opportunities.
“The hub will also support decarbonisation of Scotland’s iconic whisky industry, which currently relies on energy intensive production techniques – by creating clean energy and heat used for distilling and fuel for transportation”, she added.
“There is significant potential for the development of green hydrogen production in Scotland, due to our capability to generate so much renewable energy from offshore wind – crucial to the process of making green hydrogen.”
The Scottish Government’s funding will be matched by low-carbon firm Storegga – with investment totalling £6.2m.
It complements a total of almost £7m from the Scottish Government’s Hydrogen Innovation Scheme, which has supported 31 projects across the country since 2022.
Conversation