It will invest more than 拢100m to advance development of the cleaner energy source.
The five-year plan is intended to help build Scotland鈥檚 hydrogen economy and deliver an ambition for the technology to provide nearly a sixth of Scotland鈥檚 energy needs by 2030.
The draft Hydrogen Action Plan, which is backed by more than 拢100m of funding, sets out the strategic approach the Scottish government will take with industry to help make Scotland become a leading nation in the production of reliable, competitive and sustainable hydrogen.
The five-year capital investment programme will focus on supporting regional renewable hydrogen production hubs and renewable hydrogen projects. The first tranche of investment will be a 拢10m Hydrogen Innovation Fund, to be launched next year to drive technological progress and advance innovation and cost reduction within the emerging sector.
Separately, the Scottish government鈥檚 energy transition fund is being expanded to up to 拢75m to deliver 拢15 million of investment in an Aberdeen Hydrogen Hub, which will develop infrastructure to support the growth of a hydrogen transport fleet and the deployment of new applications across the north east.
Additional investment will be made to support the continuing advancement of the technology, including 拢100,000 to support collaborative industry-academia projects through the Energy Technology Partnership, 拢150,000 for German-Scottish hydrogen research collaboration, and public and private sector joint funding for a study to explore options for the export of hydrogen from Scotland to Germany.
Net zero & energy secretary Michael Matheson said: 鈥淗ydrogen has an important role to play in our journey to a net zero economy, by supporting the bold, urgent action required to deliver cleaner, greener energy and also by supporting a just transition 鈥� creating good, green jobs for our highly skilled workforce.
鈥淪cotland has the resources, the people and the ambition to become a world leader in hydrogen production and our Hydrogen Action Plan sets out how we will work collaboratively with the energy sector to drive progress over the next five years.
鈥淏oth renewable and low-carbon hydrogen will play an increasingly important role in Scotland鈥檚 energy transition. Our priorities are to get as much renewable hydrogen into the energy system as quickly as possible while supporting the establishment of low-carbon hydrogen production at scale in the 2020s, linked to Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS).
鈥淭he Scottish government is fully committed to helping the hydrogen sector develop and grow. We are investing 拢100 million in renewable hydrogen projects over this parliament and, in addition to this, I am pleased to announce the expansion of our Energy Transition Fund to support the development of a Hydrogen Hub in Aberdeen and help the region be at the forefront of the energy sector鈥檚 net zero transformation.鈥�
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