A “hydrogen corridor” is being planned by the Scottish Hydrogen & Fuel Cell Association for the road between Aberdeen and Peterhead. It would complement the Energetica economic development project that is in the early stages of being rolled out in the Scottish north-east.
“We propose to run hydrogen-powered fuel cell-electric hybrid buses along this route, which corresponds with the backbone of the Energetica proposition,” SHFCA chief executive Tom Read told Energy.
“Hydrogen re-fuelling stations will be installed at both ends of the corridor to enable other hydrogen/fuel-cell vehicles to take to the road in the Scottish north-east.”
If Read and the consortium of companies that SHFCA is engaged with can pull off the bold plan, it would be the first such corridor in the UK. The association is also working with other regions to further develop its hydrogen/fuel cell-based public-transport proposal.
Meanwhile, Norway is already embarked on creating a similar corridor linking Oslo with Stavanger and is two, maybe three, years ahead.
The A90 linking Aberdeen with Peterhead is the primary artery of Energetica and sustainable transport is built into that plan. However, according to Read, SHFCA initially started its work in parallel to the other project.
The A90 was selected by SHFCA because it is extensively used by conventional buses (mostly Stagecoach) and offers a mix of road conditions that are attractive in terms of developing prototype vehicles to test realistically.
It is also the preferred choice of Aberdeenshire Council, which is working with SHFCA on the hydrogen corridor idea. Also involved are Stagecoach, which in any case commands rural public transport in the north-east, and Fife bus builder Alexander Dennis, which is likely to build/equip the planned prototype buses.
However, the hydrogen corridor is just one element of a bigger plan for Scotland that Read hopes will anchor a meaningful hydrogen/fuel-cell related industry base in-country.
The bus project has already attracted the interest of fuel-cell firm Intelligent Energy, which is locating part of its business to Scotland, plus Axeon Power of Dundee, providing technology on lithium-ion batteries.
The second stream of work is commercial vehicles. The champion there is the Royal Mail Group and SHFCA will be looking at its 35,000 road vehicles and how, over a period of time between now and 2015, 50% of these vehicles might be replaced with hydrogen/fuel-cell vehicles.
The third stream of work is airports – ground vehicles through BAA and aviation (generators) via the Royal Mail 737 fleet. It is understood that Glasgow has already shown an interest and Read is hopeful of getting Aberdeen Airport on board, too.
The fourth stream of work is off-road and leisure, the profile of which has risen dramatically of late in Aberdeenshire.
“There are sufficient golf-course developments in Scotland … current and planned … which would be ideal champions to test vehicles such as golf buggies in an off-road leisure environment,” said Read.
The predominant manufacturer in that field is a Danish member of the association, which has been looking to start manufacture in the UK. H2 Logik already has forklift trucks and golf buggies running on hydrogen/fuel cells in Denmark and the UK is seen as an ideal market for off-road vehicles.
But Read warned: “Achieving the vision will not be easy, and it will require both the public and private sectors to dig deep into their respective pockets if they expect to reap rewards in the future.
“Potentially, there’s a lot of public good in this, therefore there has to be public money backing this. On the other hand, the partners in this will win a great deal of business leverage and market share, and therefore I would be looking for an equal contribution from the private sector. However, at this point in time, we have not attempted to put a budget on these projects.”
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