The Glasgow-based energy company, Iberdrola's subsidiary, and the port operator will explore the opportunity to develop, build, and operate a 100MW green hydrogen production facility in the English seaport.

Once up & running, the plant could produce 40t of hydrogen/day, enough to power 1,300 trucks, says ScottishPower.

In the first place, the £100-150m facility would cater to local onshore clients: road, rail, and industry. Hutchison Ports would, in turn, use the hydrogen to run its cargo handling equipment.

The partners will also look into delivering green ammonia or e-methanol for the needs of the shipping and aviation industries, "those who cannot decarbonise their operations through renewable electricity alone," ScottishPower wrote in a press release.

The company doesn't exclude the possibility of exporting the facility's output.

The project aims to continue engineering and site development works to align with customer demand from 2025 onwards.

"This strategically important project could potentially create a clean fuels hub that could unlock nationally significant decarbonisation for the region, as well as playing a role in international markets. It's perfectly located not far from our existing and future offshore windfarms in the East Anglia region, and demonstrates how renewable electricity and green hydrogen can now start to help to decarbonise road, rail, shipping and industry," Barry Carruthers, Hydrogen Director at ScottishPower, commented.

Carruthers also told The Guardian, "The strength of demand from the port itself, logistics and distribution companies and rail freight companies has given use the confidence to press ahead with this facility. This is a big, industrial scale project that we're doing at pace. The cost of hydrogen is now comparable with diesel so this can be cheaper and cleaner for customers. The market has given us a really good glide path."

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