Federal Ministry of Economics assumes patronage

15.09.2025

Source: E & M powernews

Several German energy companies are investing in Scotland's renewables. A tour of the three Ws north of Hadrian's Wall.

What Scotland's whisky distilleries produce is rushing down throats around the world. Hydrogen produced with the help of wind is set to become the export hit of the future. In Lockerbie, the present and the future meet in a biomass power plant - and Eon's involvement is just one example of how Scotland is high on the agenda of a number of German energy companies.

The CO2 generated during the production of the national distillate and biogenic carbon dioxide from Eon's biomass power plant "Steven's Croft" - which utilizes wood - are to enter into a liaison with hydrogen. The synthesis produces e-fuels, i.e. synthetic fuels, largely with the help of wind power. And on a scale that could "lay the foundation for greenhouse gas-reduced solutions in shipping and aviation and even for motorsport", says Markus Wambach. He is a board member at the consulting firm MHP. This subsidiary of Porsche juggles the interests of the companies involved in the international "HyLion" network in Lockerbie. These include Stuttgart-based Bosch Manufacturing Solutions GmbH, which will treat the water required and desalinate it if necessary.

Regardless of how you feel about the fuels that have to be produced using sinful amounts of energy - here in the north of Lockerbie, dreams are maturing for climate-friendly shipping, aviation and space travel - and for motorsport that stinks less. Hy Lion puts the expected quantity at 45,000 tons of e-methanol as soon as the pilot plant goes into operation in 2028.

Annual production can be increased tenfold if the Eon power plant and the distilleries in the region provide up to 680,000 tons of biogenic CO2 instead of 63,000 tons as at the beginning. And if additional electrolyzer capacity is available. Sylvia Trage believes that the demand for decarbonized fuel will grow considerably. The MHP partner responsible for supply chain management told E&M: "The abundant wind resources in Northern Europe provide an ideal basis for scalable production of CO2-reduced hydrogen and derivatives."

Harbingers of a huge H2 ramp-up

Hydrogen is expected to reach a production capacity of 5,000 MW in Scotland by 2030 and five times that by 2045. The ramp-up is clear to see. Next stop: Aberdeen, the UK's northernmost major city. And the most important seaport for the third and most important W after whisky and hydrogen - wind power. There is huge potential for capitalizing on this resource up there: "Scotland has gigantic areas at sea," says Meinolf Otto. He works for the export and investment promotion agency "Scottish Development International" (SDI), which brings together Scottish and international companies on behalf of the Edinburgh government.

Scotland, which aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2045, estimates the potential for offshore capacity at up to 60,000 MW. 3,000 MW are already connected to the grid. The next milestone is 2030, when up to 12,500 MW are to be developed. This is more than half of the interim target for the UK as a whole (23,000 MW).

In addition, Scotland prides itself on being the world market leader with a pipeline of 18,000 MW of floating marine parks. Munich-based Baywa Re, which has been active in Scotland since 2014, is also involved in one of these projects, "Buchan" off the coast of Aberdeen (1,000 MW).

EnBW has also recently joined the sea of offshore developers. The Karlsruhe-based company is building its first park in Scottish waters together with BP. A spokeswoman for EnBW told E&M that new regulations for the grid connection have delayed the 2,900 MW "Morven" project somewhat. The park will therefore not be able to feed into the grid until 2032 at the earliest.

"Morven" is one of 14 offshore farms currently planned to play a role in green hydrogen production. For Meinolf Otto, there is no way around turning wind into green gas. The business developer says that "more options are needed than just feeding wind power into the grid".

After all, Scotland had already covered 97.4 percent of its own electricity needs from renewables by 2020 and had become an energy exporter. Even if other sectors are about to be electrified, this raises the question of what the aim of expanding wind power should be. Meinolf Otto believes that it should be used instead of curtailed: 126 billion kWh of Scottish green electricity should be available for hydrogen production by 2045.

Meanwhile at the other end of the North Sea

One person waiting for this is Robert Seehawer. The Managing Director of the German "AquaVentus" - an association of more than 100 companies and institutions - is promoting the vision of a European North Sea energy network. The idea is to produce green hydrogen directly at the offshore wind farms and transport it from there by pipe to the consumer markets. "AquaDuctus" is the name of the associated project. The first 100 kilometers of pipeline are to be laid off Heligoland by 2030. "If electricity costs nothing, make hydrogen out of it," is one of Seehawer's core principles. He is referring to times of low or negative prices.

With Aquaductus, countries bordering the North Sea are to build H2 pipelines on top of each other like bridges - this is cheaper than national isolated solutions and allows the hydrogen to flow more easily to where it is needed most. According to Robert Seehawer, Scotland is characterized by "few people and lots of wind", while Germany has a large population and energy-hungry industry. It follows from this: Ideally, the country of 5.5 million inhabitants would produce hydrogen in excess of its own needs and for export. The shared transport infrastructure is more cost-effective than "implementing expensive individual projects in parallel", says Seehawer.

In Scotland, Meinolf Otto from SDI sees sufficient investors among the 150 companies already working in the hydrogen sector as well as in the H2 hubs who are waiting in the wings to tackle electrolysis at sea and transportation via sea pipelines. However, the question of refinancing looms over everything, depending not least on the final price for the kilowatt hour of hydrogen and government regulation. RWE, for example, which is also active in the UK, is rather cool on the subject.

When asked by E&M about the pipeline initiatives, RWE CEO Markus Krebber was cautious: "We are keeping an eye on it." For Meinolf Otto, it is also a question of perspective: those who develop offshore wind projects for H2 production instead of for electricity supply save the high costs of power cables to the mainland.

From the future at sea back down to earth in Peterhead, north of Aberdeen. In this coastal town, the "Evolution Hydrogen Peterhead" project is making encouraging headlines for the hydrogen future. More than 100,000 kilos of green gas are to be produced in a plant park as early as 2028, with the green electricity coming from the floating parks upstream. The further expansion stages are expressly intended to serve not only Scotland, but also Germany. Peterhead will make use of existing pipelines laid for oil and gas transportation. Here too, pipes on the seabed are planned for transporting the green hydrogen.

Finally, the renewables excursion through Scotland leads away from the sea across the road to Cumnock in the south-west, which is characterized by rolling hills and sleepy sheep. There, in the administrative district of East Ayrshire, RWE recently commissioned the "Enoch Hill" wind farm. The Germans describe themselves as the leading electricity producer in the UK. In Scotland, they have several hydro and biomass power plants, ambitious hydrogen projects and more than ten wind farms, including one offshore. With a total capacity of 70 MW, "Enoch Hill" is the Group's largest onshore wind farm in Scotland. The onshore pipeline is well filled with more than 1,000 MW spread over a dozen sites.

Installing turbines in Scotland's beautiful countryside continues to attract German developers. Sometimes, however, even the picturesque Highlands lose their appeal. PNE recently ended its involvement on the island with the sale of the last remaining wind farm in Sallachy (43 MW) to the Canadian renewables company Boralex. The Cuxhaven-based developer had also been doing business in Scotland for more than a decade with the realization and sale of wind farms.

When one goes, another comes: Uniper announced in the summer that it would begin construction of the "Hare Craig" wind farm in East Ayrshire in 2027. The Düsseldorf-based company has therefore chosen Scotland as the location for its very first wind farm. Alongside solar parks, it is intended to help the gas giant achieve a greener image. Energiekontor from Bremen is the partner for the construction of the 46 MW wind farm. The fact that onshore wind power is attracting German energy companies to Scotland is also due to the British contracts for difference (CfD) and the calculable yields. If they can't earn their money with whisky, they should be able to do so with wind and hydrogen.

Author: Volker Stephan