“Hydrogen Action Plan”
(Local Authority Role)
6. Paul McLennan (East
Lothian) (SNP)
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update
on its “hydrogen Action Plan”,
including regarding the role that local authorities can play in
defining demand. (S6O-01929)
The Cabinet Secretary for
Net Zero, Energy and Transport ()
In December 2022, we published our finalised “hydrogen
Action Plan”, which set out the actions that it will be necessary
to take over the course of this parliamentary session to support
the development of the hydrogen economy in
Scotland. The development of a domestic hydrogen
sector and hydrogen production for
export, supported by a strong supply chain, will play an
important role in supporting a just transition to net zero by
2045, and it also presents significant long-term economic
opportunities. We continue to work with our agency partners and
local authorities to deliver those actions.
Paul McLennan
What role will the support agencies that the cabinet secretary
referenced, such as Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Scottish
Enterprise, and South of Scotland Enterprise, together with our
universities sector, play alongside local authorities in
developing supply chain capacity?
Our enterprise agencies and our universities sector will play an
important part in building and supporting our hydrogen
supply chain and capacity within that sector. We work
collaboratively to bring together all parts of the sector—public,
private and academic—to support the development of the hydrogen economy. Our
agencies can provide grants, loans and advice to organisations
that seek to develop proposals for hydrogen projects. Our
enterprise agencies work with our universities to progress key
aspects of research that are critical to supporting the
development of such projects.
