Plans have been submitted for a major "green hydrogen" scheme near Glasgow. The application by ScottishPower includes a 20MW electrolyser, a device which splits water into hydrogen and oxygen using electrical energy - in this case, via wind and solar power. The planned facility will be located near the UK's largest onshore wind farm, Whitelee, owned by ScottishPower. The project includes a combined solar and battery energy storage scheme to help power the electrolyser.  ScottishPower said the facility would be able to produce up ... Read more

The world's first full-scale floating wind farm off Peterhead has been recorded as having the UK's best results for capturing potential output offshore for the third year. Five giant wind turbines make up the Hywind Scotland development, about 15 miles (25km) off Aberdeenshire. It reached an average of 57.1% of its potential output over the past year. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-56496355 A blueprint to cut industrial carbon emissions by two-thirds within 15 years has been announced by the government. It wants firms to waste less energy, develop low-carbon technologies ... Read more

A major new port - and thousands of jobs - are on the way after US industrial giant GE confirmed it will build its turbine blade factory on Teesside. Around 3,000 jobs will be created after the Government announced an investment of up to £20m to develop the next generation of offshore wind projects on the banks of the Tees. Construction will start on the Teesworks Offshore Manufacturing Centre later this year - including a heavy lift quay with the capacity for up ... Read more

Siemens Gamesa has applied for permission to increase the site of its wind turbine manufacturing facility in Hull, potentially creating hundreds of jobs. If plans go ahead, Siemens Gamesa will dramatically extend its facility on Alexandra Dock from 387,500 sq ft to 835,280 sq ft to support the growing North Sea wind energy industry. The proposed development will be dependent on Government support and Siemens Gamesa securing work for the next phase of development on the offshore wind https://www.thebusinessdesk.com/yorkshire/news/2070695-game-changer-plans-to-expand-turbine-manufacturing-factory   Sheffield Forgemasters has joined an offshore ... Read more

Oil demand may never recover from the blow dealt to it by Covid-19, according to BP’s 2020 Energy Outlook. In two of the report’s three modelled scenarios, ambitious climate policies mean that global oil consumption already peaked at 100m barrels per day in 2019. Even under a “business-as-usual” case, demand for the fossil fuel would briefly rebound before hitting a terminal plateau in the early 2020s. By BP’s own admission, it’s not a lucrative moment to be an oil company. But it’s ... Read more

The Scottish government has awarded a contract to explore opportunities for floating offshore wind and hydrogen supply chains in Scotland and France. The award of the contract to the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) follows a competitive tender. EMEC will partner with French engineering firm Innosea and London-based Renewables Consulting Group (RCG) to carry out research. The aim is to understand the technical status of floating wind and hydrogen in Scotland and France and identify ways that collaboration can be encouraged to ... Read more

A £750m hydrogen production plant is to be built on the banks of the River Mersey. Essar, which operates the Stanlow oil refinery, and Progressive Energy, developers of HyNet North West, an industrial decarbonisation cluster, have joined forces to set up a venture to produce low carbon hydrogen at the Ellesmere Port refinery. The joint venture will manufacture hydrogen for use across the HyNet region and is expected to create hundreds of construction jobs, followed by thousands more across the region once the ... Read more