North East Scotland Hydrogen Ambition
Low carbon (both blue and green) hydrogen is recognised as being a critical future fuel source to decarbonise energy use and to achieve net zero carbon emissions targets for Scotland and the UK.
As a result of Aberdeen City’s pioneering hydrogen activities over the last decade, North East Scotland is already at the forefront of hydrogen activity in the UK and is now positioning itself to grow the hydrogen economy in terms of infrastructure, jobs, just transition and economic benefit to the region.
The North East Scotland Hydrogen Ambition (NESH₂A) Steering Committee is a group made up of experienced executives from both private and public sector organisations based in the North East who are actively working on hydrogen projects and therefore have key insights into the region’s hydrogen economy potential.
The Steering Committee’s vision is to establish North East Scotland at the forefront of low carbon hydrogen production, distribution and use; providing secure, economic energy supply domestically to power transport, homes and industries, and internationally through establishing routes to prime export markets and transferring skills.
The NESH₂A Steering Committee’s priority activities:
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Announcing the formation of the NESH₂A Steering Committee
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Review the NESH₂A Steering Committee’s 2021 Ambition Report
“The committee brings together a unique group of decision makers representing most of the significant private & public sector “players” in Hydrogen in the Region and in Scotland. Members span Hydrogen production, distribution and use and its gratifying to see information exchange and collaboration develop across the board with the committee as an enabling vehicle. New members have been attracted to join through the years, reflecting both the buoyancy of activity in the Hydrogen space and the relevancy of the working committee.”
Mike Fleming, Chair of the NESH₂A Steering Committee
Steering Committee Members
Mike Fleming
Independent Chair
Martin McCormack
Director CCUS & Hydrogen,
ETZ Ltd
Kevin Kinsella
Senior Partner,
ERM
Emma Watt
Team Leader Economic Opportunities,
Scottish Enterprise
Jim Johnstone
Service Manager - City Development,
Aberdeen City Council
Luca Corradi
Chief Technology Officer,
Net Zero Technology Centre
Gordon McIntosh
Director,
Aberdeen Renewable Energy Group
Bob Drummond
Chief Executive Officer,
D2Zero
Duncan Abernethy
Director of Business Development,
North East Scotland College
Amy Perry
(Secretariat) Project Development Manager (Hydrogen),
ETZ Ltd
Sarah Potts
Head of Hydrogen,
Storegga
Oliver Taylor
Chief Executive Officer,
bp Aberdeen Hydrogen Energy Ltd
Roddy James
Chief Technology Officer,
Port of Aberdeen
The Transport Action Group
The North East Scotland Hydrogen Ambition Group (NESH₂A) identified transport as a key early offtaker to enable hydrogen production projects in the region. Therefore, the Transport Action Group was formed in June 2023 as a specific task-focused group to build on the initial success of hydrogen transport projects in the region and to accelerate the next phase projects on the ground.
The group has grown its membership since 2023 and now represents 15 public and private sector organisations that are front runners in the hydrogen transport sector.
The main objective of the group is to advance hydrogen transport in the North East region by developing:
Pilot routes
Hydrogen Refuelling Infrastructure
Exemplar projects
Linkages to other projects, supply chain, vehicle developers
More Information & Contact Details
Gordon McIntosh (Aberdeen International Associates Ltd), chairs this group. Amy Perry (ETZ Ltd) is the secretariat.
If you would like to discuss any aspect of the group’s work or if you are interested in becoming a member please contact:
The TH₂ISTLE Project
North East Scotland (NES) is developing a Hydrogen Valley, called “TH₂ISTLE”. The Hydrogen Valley will deliver new and interconnected activities to make, move and use green hydrogen in Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire. This initiative has attracted a consortium of 30 partners (from Scotland, UK and overseas) and is coordinated by Aberdeen City Council, bp, ETZ Ltd, Hydrasun, Net Zero Technology Centre and Scottish Enterprise. In April 2024, the group submitted a formal bid to the EU Clean Hydrogen Partnership’s small valley call for €9 million funding, which is additional to that committed by other private and public sector sources. More than 50 letters of support were provided as part of the bid, demonstrating strong evidence that the TH₂ISTLE project is key to the development of a hydrogen market in the region and nationally in Scotland and the UK. A funding decision is expected in Summer 2024 and the TH₂ISTLE project’s prospective start date is Q1 2025.
