THE Scottish Government is set to accelerate plans to export green hydrogen to Germany by sending it by ship.
We previously told how the Scottish Government was looking into plans in 2023 for a hydrogen pipeline connecting Germany to Scotland.
At the time, acting Energy Secretary Gillian Martin (below) told The National that the pipeline was “a great opportunity” for Scotland and was key to unlocking a burgeoning market for Scottish hydrogen in Europe.
Green hydrogen refers to gas made by using electricity generated from renewable sources to split water into its two constituent elements (oxygen and hydrogen).
When burned, hydrogen does not give off carbon dioxide, and the oxygen by-product has no negative impacts on the atmosphere.
Now, The Daily Record reports that Martin went on a trade visit to Germany last week, where she told journalists that the Scottish Government initially plans to transport the liquid hydrogen by ship before the pipeline is built.
Cabinet Secretary @GillianMSP sprach beim @handelsblatt #Energiegipfel über Schottlands Vorreiterrolle bei erneuerbaren Energien – von Offshore-Wind über CCUS bis hin zu grünem Wasserstoff. Gemeinsam mit unseren deutschen Partnern treiben wir die Energiewende voran. #HBEnergie pic.twitter.com/1wHWfshYpR
— Scottish Government Germany (@ScotGovGermany) January 22, 2025
She added that the £2.6 billion pipeline, if built, could help provide a third of German energy needs by 2030.
Martin said: “We will generate more electricity than we can use. We will use the surplus electricity to produce green hydrogen – and we can supply it to Germany.
“The hydrogen will initially be transported by ship. We are hoping for a pipeline that runs from Scotland through northern England to Germany.”
The proposed pipeline would end in Emden, Lower Saxony, which is in northwest Germany.
Martin added: “"A pipeline costs a lot of money. No country can manage that alone, but we are now more confident than in recent years that progress will be made.
"Everything is there. We need the political will to act."
The Scottish Government’s Hydrogen Action Plan estimates that the development of a hydrogen economy in Scotland could create between 70,000 to over 300,000 jobs, with potential Gross Value Added (GVA) impacts of between £5bn and £25bn a year by 2045 depending on the scale of production and the extent of exports.
