Iberdrola plans green hydrogen production at Whitelee wind farm

ScottishPower has filed an application for a 20MW electrolyser at a site near its 539MW Whitelee wind farm in Scotland.

The development would also include up to 20MW of solar capacity and up to 50MW of battery storage. 

Up to eight tonnes of green hydrogen for transportation could be produced daily, enough to power more than 550 buses completing the 145-km round trip from Glasgow to Edinburgh each day.

If a decision on the permitting application is made by the end of autumn 2021, ScottishPower hopes to supply hydrogen commercially before 2023.

BOC would engineer and operate the project, while ITM Power would provide the electrolyser.

Whitelee was commissioned in two stages – 322MW Whitelee Whitelee (322MW) OnshoreEaglesham Moor, East Renfrewshire, Southern Scotland, UK, Europe Click to see full details and 217MW Whitelee Extension II Whitelee Extension II (217MW) OnshoreKilmarnock, Scotland, UK, Europe Click to see full details – in 2009 and 2013 respectively.

The first phase features 140 SWT-2.3-101 turbines, while the second features 69 units of GE’s ECO 100-3MW model and a further six Ecotecnia 74 turbines.

Whitelee would not be the first time ScottishPower Renewables has paired wind with battery storage in the UK: It previously installed a 1MW battery at the 20MW Carlands Cross site in Cornwall, south-west England.