Chamber and committees

Battery electric and hydrogen fuel cell technologies are complementary in the electrification of much of our transport system, as is required as Scotland transitions to net zero. The Scottish Government is therefore supporting targeted investment in both technologies.

With hydrogen expected to have most impact in the heavy duty road vehicle sector, rather than cars and lighter road vehicles, it would not be prudent at this point to emulate the widespread roll-out of a public refuelling network, akin to the ChargePlace Scotland electric vehicle charging network. Rather, hydrogen refuelling infrastructure is being funded where there is parallel deployment of hydrogen vehicles to create a demand for the fuel. Examples of this have been stations in Aberdeen serving hydrogen buses and various council vehicle types, as well as in Orkney, fuelling small vans. Other local authorities - including Dundee and Glasgow have plans for hydrogen transport solutions and the Scottish Government is working with officials, industry and academia to help realise those projects. As well as hydrogen vehicles and infrastructure, Scottish Ministers have invested in research and innovation in this area, including the Michelin Scotland Innovation Parc in Dundee, and the Hydrogen Accelerator Programme based in St Andrews University.

In the future, areas of high demand for hydrogen in Scotland could enable lower-cost hydrogen production at scale, with demand coming from trains and shipping, as well as road transport. Industrial processes and heating could also require large scale hydrogen production and distribution solutions. Scottish Ministers' Hydrogen Policy Statement published last December, and the forthcoming Hydrogen Action Plan are parts of a more strategic approach that will takes all these future needs and opportunities for Scotland into account.