Question reference: S6W-27163
- Asked by: Michael Matheson, MSP for Falkirk West, Scottish National Party
- Date lodged: 1 May 2024
-
Current status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 13 May 2024
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made in supporting the Scottish hydrogen supply chain through the development of a Hydrogen Economy Cluster, as set out in its Hydrogen Action Plan.
Answer
The Scottish Government and Scotland’s Enterprise Agencies continue to work to inform Scottish supply chain companies about hydrogen sector developments and to help them to prepare for the opportunities associated with hydrogen infrastructure rollout both in Scotland and further afield.
We are engaging and supporting companies throughout Scotland that are already undertaking or are interested in hydrogen opportunities, as well as others with potentially transferrable skills and currently not active in the sector to raise awareness of potential opportunity areas. Scotland’s Enterprise Agencies are capturing companies’ capabilities and compiling a soon to be publicly available online database to provide a useful tool for supply chain, project developers and investors keen to understand and work with Scotland’s hydrogen supply chain.
Scottish Enterprise recently ran a year-long Hydrogen Expert Support programme in which 33 Scottish companies participated, including manufacturers, technology developers or technical service providers seeking to diversify into or grow in the hydrogen sector. Scottish Enterprise funded workshops with an expert consultancy which provided each company with a tailored report giving them information on the sector and recommendations on what steps they could take to get involved based on their capabilities and ambitions.
The Scottish Government and Scotland’s Enterprise Agencies are also working with partners and stakeholders such as NECCUS and the Scottish Hydrogen & Fuel Cell Association to further the development of a hydrogen economy cluster for Scotland.