The European Union published a hydrogen strategy in June 2020 with the aim of installing (European Commission, 2020):

• 6GW of renewable hydrogen electrolysers to produce up to 1million tonnes of renewable (green) hydrogen by 2024
• 40GW of renewable hydrogen electrolysers producing up to 10 million tonnes of renewable (green) hydrogen by 2030

In December 2020, the Scottish Government published a Hydrogen Policy Statement detailing plans for 5GW of renewable and low-carbon hydrogen production by 2030, and 25GW by 2045 (Scottish Government, 2020). It is estimated that 5GW of hydrogen could produce the energy equivalent of 15% of Scotland's total energy demand (Scottish Government, 2022). £100m of funding was allocated towards the development of the hydrogen economy (Scottish Government, 2020).

Hydrogen is a sustainable alternative to burning fossil fuels, and use of hydrogen as an energy source aims to assist with the de-carbonisation of Scotland's economy and industry. A 5 year Hydrogen Action Plan to develop the hydrogen economy, contributing to Just Transition and reduction of GHG emissions was introduced in 2022. This Action Plan is designed to increase hydrogen production capability to the targets set out in 2020 Policy Statement (Scottish Government, 2022)

There are a cluster of projects all along Scotland's east coast, dubbed The Hydrogen Coast. In Aberdeen City and the North East of Scotland there are a number of hydrogen projects underway or planned (Scottish Government, 2020; 2022). For example, in Aberdeen City the HECTOR Project introduced hydrogen fuel cell garbage trucks and the HyTransit project introduced 25 double-decker buses to the city (Aberdeen City Council, 2022; Scottish Government, 2022). 

A partnership between Aberdeen City Council and bp aims to deliver the Aberdeen Hydrogen Hub, with £15 million in investment from the Scottish Government's Energy Transition Fund. This Hub will establish hydrogen production, storage, and distribution in the Energy Transition Zone in the city (Aberdeen City Council, 2020)

Other hydrogen projects in the North East include Aberdeen Vision, Holistic Low-Carbon Energy Facility/Renewable Energy Village, Inverurie Energy Hub, Kittybrewster Refueling Station, and Project Haldane (Scottish Government, 2022).