Latest news with #WhiteleeGreenHydrogenProject
Daily Record
25-07-2025
- General
- Daily Record
Hazardous substance permission sought for pioneering green hydrogen production facility in Ayrshire
An application to produce hydrogen near Whitelee Wind Farm will be considered by East Ayrshire Council. An application to allow the production and storage of volatile hydrogen and other fuels at Whitelee Green Hydrogen Project has been lodged. ScottishPower has applied for hazardous substances consent to operate a green hydrogen facility at the site, which is home to the largest wind farm in the UK. The proposed development involves producing hydrogen through the electrolysis of water using power from the adjacent wind and solar farms, then storing and transporting it in specialised high-pressure trailers. The application outlines the storage and handling of several controlled substances, including up to 4 tonnes of hydrogen, 1.3 tonnes of diesel, and 0.24 tonnes of sodium hypochlorite, all of which are subject to strict regulations under hazardous materials law. Hydrogen will be created by splitting demineralised water using two 5MW electrolyser trains, with the gas compressed, dried, and stored in a series of mobile tube trailers. These will be used to export the hydrogen via road, with up to six heavy goods vehicle (HGV) movements per day expected. According to the application, safety has been a major consideration in the site's layout and risk assessments. The hydrogen facility will be located more than a kilometre from any public areas, including the B764. The company says that around 10 permanent staff are expected to work at the hydrogen site, in addition to occasional workers at the co-located solar and wind farms. ScottishPower confirmed the site will operate to 'Lower Tier' standards under the Control of Major Accident Hazards (COMAH) Regulations, even though the facility currently does not meet the threshold requiring full COMAH classification. The company has committed to rigorous risk assessments, including blast and fire impact modelling, and plans to install venting systems, CCTV, fencing, and potential protective structures like blast walls. The project's Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) considered peat depth, drainage, flood risk, and the effect on local watercourses. The hydrogen facility is sited in an area with shallower peat, minimising habitat disruption. Treated water will be discharged to local streams under SEPA-regulated conditions, and a PPC (Pollution Prevention and Control) permit is being pursued. Peat probing, flood modelling, and a 12-month water monitoring programme are already underway, and measures to handle oily water and control surface run-off have been outlined. The hazardous substances consent application is an early but crucial step in progressing the wider Whitelee Green Hydrogen Project, which aims to become one of the UK's first large-scale green hydrogen production facilities directly powered by renewable energy. A broad application for the facility was made in 2021, with a view to having it up and running by the end of 2023. However, Scottish Ministers opted to 'call in' the application, viewing the project as nationally significant in relation to policies on hydrogen production and net zero. The application was eventually approved in January and has been followed up with planning applications for an associated pipeline and this application for hazardous material consent.
Business Wire
16-07-2025
- Business
- Business Wire
Black & Veatch Has Completed a Green Hydrogen Front-End Engineering Design Study for ScottishPower in U.K.
GLASGOW, Scotland--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Black & Veatch has completed execution of a front-end engineering design (FEED) study for the Whitelee Green Hydrogen Project, a proposed development by owner ScottishPower Energy Retail Limited. The contract was awarded to Black & Veatch in October of 2024. Black & Veatch has completed a green hydrogen front-end engineering design study for ScottishPower in U.K. The first phase of the plan, located 15 miles south of Glasgow, was awarded via U.K. government funding support as part of its Hydrogen Allocation Round 1 (HAR1) process. The project will produce green hydrogen via a power supply connection to the U.K.'s largest onshore windfarm, Whitelee Windfarm, creating a valuable renewable fuel with zero carbon emissions. Green hydrogen effectively provides a resilient fuel source by using electricity from renewable sources, such as wind, and converting it using an electrolyser —a device that uses electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen through electrolysis. Green hydrogen then operates as a transportable and fungible fuel, ensuring low to no carbon emissions in the process. As the U.K. government shortlists new green hydrogen projects for funding as part of its Hydrogen Allocation Round (HAR2), Black & Veatch continues to work with clients using the company's power generation and lower carbon expertise to plan, design and build green hydrogen plants. Black & Veatch has recently completed more than 200 front-end loading (FEL) studies globally with 245MW of green hydrogen projects completed or under construction. 'ScottishPower develops green hydrogen responsibly and we selected Black & Veatch because of their decades of experience in hydrogen and strong commitment to safety,' said Mark Bradley, Hydrogen Director, ScottishPower Green Hydrogen Limited. 'We take a holistic development approach, consulting with local stakeholders to ensure we are able to successfully develop low carbon sources of energy for our customers.' The multi-disciplinary engineering team from Black & Veatch delivered a design with safety at the forefront and leveraged the internal experience of constructing and commissioning hydrogen production facilities in other regions. The FEED study includes the incorporation of the OEM's electrolyser package design, as well as the design of all balance of plant scope including hydrogen compression and a tube-trailer dispensing station. The first phase of this project covers 10MW of proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolysis, and the conceptual design from Black & Veatch includes a second phase that incorporates an additional 10MW in electrolysis capacity. The second phase has been shortlisted for the U.K. government's HAR2 process. Black & Veatch is also the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) provider for Advanced Clean Energy Storage I (ACES I), a green hydrogen hub in Utah in the United States, and is considered a leading global innovator in the design and engineering of first of a kind, at-scale green hydrogen plants. 'Our clients entrust us to help engineer and deploy innovative, bankable green hydrogen energy infrastructure to transition them to lower carbon solutions,' said Youssef Merjaneh, senior vice president and managing director, Europe Middle East and Africa, Black & Veatch. 'This innovative project will produce green hydrogen from adjacent onshore wind as part of the U.K. government's HAR funding program, and we look forward to continued collaboration with the ScottishPower team.' For more information on the company's hydrogen and ammonia experience, visit Black & Veatch is a 100-percent employee-owned global engineering, procurement, consulting and construction company with more than 100-years of innovation in sustainable infrastructure. Since 1915, we have helped our clients improve the lives of people around the world by addressing the resilience and reliability of our most important infrastructure and energy assets. Follow us on and on LinkedIn, Facebook, X (Twitter) and Instagram.
