RWE and SGN partner on green hydrogen heating in Scotland
The partnership will investigate the decarbonisation of connected homes and businesses to the networks.
RWE and SGN signed an MoU to investigate the development of electrolysers powered by RWE’s 10 onshore wind farms in Scotland, which have a combined capacity of 213 MW, to supply homes and businesses with hydrogen gas via Scotland’s gas network.
These networks are currently supplied by Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) and Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG), which when swapped with hydrogen, could save 21,000 tonnes of carbon each year and decarbonise around 9,500 properties.
The partnership will define how much hydrogen is needed, the requirements to convert these networks to hydrogen, and the supply of green electrolytic hydrogen from RWE’s renewable onshore wind farms nearby. In doing so, the project could also unlock onshore wind farm developments in grid-constrained areas by providing a use for the green electricity generated.
A feasibility study will also be conducted over the coming months into a 100-megawatt (MW) electrolyser at RWE’s Markinch CHP biomass plant. This could produce green hydrogen from local and grid-connected renewable energy, to connect to SGN’s gas network in Fife. It would build on the work SGN is already undertaking in Levenmouth on their world-first H100 Fife project.
The knowledge and experience gained from these initial studies will enable a better understanding of the practicalities and economics of the entire hydrogen cycle and will be an important precursor to a potential funding application under the UK Government’s Net Zero Hydrogen Fund.
Steve Boughton, RWE Director of Hydrogen Development, said, “This MoU is a perfect partnership to develop options for the decarbonisation of domestic and business gas networks, and to help Government achieve its ambitions for 10GW of hydrogen production.”
Fergus Tickell, SGN System Transformation and Business Development Lead, said, “We’ll explore how hydrogen produced locally can be delivered through the world-class networks we’ve been operating for decades, to all of Scotland’s communities, including in Fife, Campbeltown, Stornoway, Oban, Thurso and Wick. We also look forward to investigating more opportunities across the UK.”