Committees

bp and Shell among witnesses to give evidence to MPs on hydrogen potential in Scotland

30 June 2022

bp’s head of country and Shell UK Upstream’s Energy Transition Manager will be giving evidence to the Scottish Affairs Committee on the role hydrogen could play in the energy mix.

Their panel will be preceded by Hydrogen UK’s Chief Executive and Offshore Energies UK’s Energy Policy Manager as the Committee considers what challenges the sector faces, and what support the UK Government can give, to support the use of low carbon hydrogen.

Scotland has access to secure geological storage due to North Sea oil and gas fields, and as such could be pivotal in the transition from fossil fuels to renewables and low carbon energy. The storage abilities offer the opportunity to store vast quantities of hydrogen for future use or to store CO2 as part of blue hydrogen production.

The evidence session is the second in the Committee’s inquiry considering Hydrogen and Carbon Capture in Scotland. It comes amid efforts to focus on domestic production and supply of energy.

In May, bp set out that it is aiming to produce 1.5GW of hydrogen by 2030 in the UK, which represents 15% of the Government’s 10GW target. It is also working with Aberdeen City Council to deliver a scalable green hydrogen production, storage and distribution facility. Meanwhile, Shell has partnered with Storegga (Pale Blue Dot) and Harbour Energy on Project Acorn, which looks to provide carbon capture and storage and hydrogen infrastructure to support the UK’s decarbonisation efforts.

Purpose of the session

Issues likely to be discussed with the witnesses include:

  • The UK twin track approach, with the Government investing in the development of both blue and green hydrogen;
  • Funding and market mechanisms for hydrogen;
  • Jobs, skills and training;
  • Energy security and resilience;
  • Legislation and investment.

Witnesses

Monday 4 July in Committee Room 15, Palace of Westminster 

At 3pm

  • Clare Jackson, Chief Executive, Hydrogen UK
  • Will Webster, Energy Policy Manager, Offshore Energies UK

At 4pm

  • Louise Kingham CBE, Senior Vice President Europe and Head of Country, bp
  • Bethan Vasey, Energy Transition Manager, Shell UK Upstream

Further information

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