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"Iberdrola sets an example for green hydrogen production and the decarbonisation of the country". That was the message received by Ignacio Galán, the chairman of Iberdrola, from Scottish Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon, at a meeting held this morning as part of the COP26 Climate Summit, which will continue until 12 November.

Several months ago, the company led by Ignacio Galán submitted an application to build a green hydrogen plant alongside its Whitelee wind farm, a facility that will house the UK's largest electrolyser, with 20 MW.

Regarding the Spanish businessman, the prime minister said: "we first met more than 15 years ago and he has always kept his word and supported Scotland and the people of Scotland. We are delighted to have you here and with your commitment to the Scottish people".

The facility, which will be developed by Iberdrola subsidiary ScottishPower, will include a hybrid solar energy system that will power the electrolyser, and a battery storage system with a maximum capacity of 50 MW. The facility will be able to produce up to eight tonnes of green hydrogen every day, the equivalent to the daily fuel needed by 550 buses to make round trips between Glasgow and Edinburgh.

The project is the first green hydrogen plant to be built by "Green Hydrogen for Scotland", an alliance between Iberdrola subsidiary ScottishPower Renewables, BOC, and ITM Power, with the aim of creating a green hydrogen production network and offering turnkey market solutions to reduce emissions in difficult-to-decarbonise sectors of the economy such as, for example, heavy transport, urban transport (buses) and waste collection vehicles.

The first project will help to prevent emissions from heavy public transport and improve air quality in the Glasgow metropolitan area and aspires to transform it into the UK's first zero-emissions municipality in 2030, creating, among other initiatives, a zero-emissions fleet of vehicles, using solely electric and hydrogen-powered vehicles.

Leading decarbonisation

As part of its commitment to spearhead the energy transition, Iberdrola is leading the development of green hydrogen with more than 60 projects in eight countries (Spain, the United Kingdom, Brazil, the United States, among others), satisfying the need for the electrification and decarbonisation of sectors

such as industry and heavy transport. The company has created a new green hydrogen business unit with which it has set out to position itself as a global leader in this technology. The group is at the leading edge of the new technological challenge of producing and supplying green hydrogen from clean energy sources, using 100% renewable electricity in the electrolysis process.

Green hydrogen is a major vector of growth within Iberdrola's 150-billion-euro investment plan to 2030. Iberdrola is already developing several projects that will enable the decarbonisation of industry and heavy transport in Spain and the UK as well as developing its value chain.

The group already has a green hydrogen portfolio that will require investments of more than three billion euros to 2030 to produce 134,000 tonnes per year. The company has also presented 54 projects to the Next Generation EU programme, which will mobilise investments of 2.5 billion euros to achieve an annual production of 60,000 tonnes of green hydrogen per year.

In addition, in recent weeks, the Renewable Hydrogen Coalition has strengthened its leading role with the appointment of the Iberdrola Group chairman and CEO, Ignacio Galán, to the position of president of the alliance, with the founder and CEO of Sunfire, Nils Aldag acting as vice-president for the next 18 months, in order to shape the necessary regulatory framework in the European Union. Galán and Aldag will contribute their experience in renewables and electrolysers to coordinate the coalition's efforts to ensure that, based on suitable policies, renewable hydrogen will become a competitive alternative to conventional hydrogen during this decade.