Question reference: S6W-27162
- Asked by: Michael Matheson, MSP for Falkirk West, Scottish National Party
- Date lodged: 1 May 2024
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Current status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 13 May 2024
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made towards the establishment of hydrogen transportation infrastructure to support the export of hydrogen to the rest of the UK and Europe, as set out in its Hydrogen Action Plan.
Answer
Establishing hydrogen transport infrastructure is critical to achieving the ambitions set out in our Hydrogen Action Plan. The Scottish Government is working with key European partners to assess options and opportunities for the development of transport infrastructure to enable the export of hydrogen from Scotland.
Scottish Government is engaging with National Grid on the Project Union initiative exploring the phased repurposing of the UK’s natural gas National Transmission System (NTS) to create a UK hydrogen backbone carrying 100% hydrogen. Decisions on the future of the Gas Grid are a reserved matter and are expected to be made in 2026 by the UK Government. We continue to routinely engage with UK Government on a range of hydrogen policy matters including Transport and Storage Hydrogen Business Models.
We are also working with industry and the development agencies on the development of a Hydrogen Sector Export Plan (HSEP) that will set out the steps needed to realise Scotland's export potential – including in relation to the development of critical infrastructure to support the transport of hydrogen and hydrogen derivatives. This is expected to be published this year.