Scottish Government Launches £10m Fund to Accelerate Hydrogen Technology

This scheme has been created to support innovative renewable hydrogen production, storage and distribution solutions as well as the development of test and demonstration facilities in Scotland.

The Hydrogen Innovation Scheme will provide capital support over the next four years to drive innovation within the hydrogen sector and accelerate its production. This aim is to unlock additional private investment in the technology, and enable new companies to enter the sector.

The first round of funding will target projects that support:

  • The low-cost, efficient and sustainable production of renewable hydrogen.
  • Efficient hydrogen storage and distribution, both within Scotland and for export.
  • The efficient integration of hydrogen into the energy system.

The programme has an overall budget of £10 million, split across two streams:

  • Stream 1 will provide funding for feasibility studies or technical demonstration of hydrogen production, distribution or storage solutions at Technology Readiness Levels (TRL) 3 to 7. For Stream 1 feasibility projects, the minimum grant is £30,000 and the maximum is £150,000. For Stream 1 demonstration projects, the minimum grant is £50,000 and the maximum is £1.5 million.
  • Stream 2 will provide support for the development of test and demonstration facilities and equipment in Scotland. The total funding available for this funding stream is £5 million. For Stream 2 test and demonstration facilities projects, the minimum grant is £100,000 and the maximum is £2 million.

The scheme is open all public and private sector applicants. Proposals will be welcome from consortia of organisations. The lead applicant must be an organisation of any size that operates in Scotland where the project will be carried out. To collaborate with the lead, an organisation can be a business of any size, a research organisation, RTO, an academic institution or a public sector organisation. Applicants to stream 2 should demonstrate the wider benefit of their proposal to Scotland’s industry and academic community.

The deadline for submission of all expressions of interest is 13 August 2022 (17:00 BST).

(This report was the subject of a GRANTfinder Newsflash.)