Iberdrola to invest €170 million in UK green hydrogen project

From pv magazine Spain

Spain’s Iberdrola group, through its ScottishPower subsidiary, plans to build a green hydrogen production plant at Felixstowe, England – the UK’s largest port. Iberdrola will invest GBP 150 million (€170 million) in the project, which is expected to be completed in 2026.

ScottishPower, which is the distribution network for parts of Scotland and northern England, has been a subsidiary of Iberdrola since 2007. It will develop the project in collaboration with Hutchison Ports. The facility will be developed on vacant land at Felixstowe, taking up roughly the size of a soccer field.

In its first phase – set to go online in 2026 – the project will have the capacity to produce 14,000 tons of hydrogen per year through electrolyzers, and this capacity may be doubled in the future. The plant will supply hydrogen to vehicles and machinery used at the port, as well as trains that transport goods to the port. Additionally, the facility also has the potential to be used for production of ammonia or ethanol, which could be used as clean fuels for maritime transport, or for export to international markets.

Felixstowe is located in southeast England, close to several of the wind farms that Iberdrola operates in the North Sea. The company has already commissioned the 714 MW East Anglia ONE project, and plans to build the East Anglia offshore wind complex, which will bring two additional projects to the area, for a total capacity of 2.9 GW.

Iberdrola has also announced further plans for hydrogen production in the UK. A project planned in collaboration with Storegga in Comarty, northern Scotland, will allow for the decarbonization of heating processes used in distilleries. This project will have an initial capacity of 4,000 tons per year, and could eventually be expanded to 20,000 tons.

The Spanish company also plans to install a green hydrogen plant at its Whitelee wind farm on the outskirts of Glasgow, which is expected to be in operation next year with a capacity of 3,000 tons per year. The project has also received government investment to the tune of GBP 9.4 million.

In total, the Iberdrola group is developing more than 60 green hydrogen projects across eight countries. It states that its green hydrogen portfolio will total production capacity of 400,000 tons per year by 2030, requiring total investment of €9 billion.