SSE slammed over Gordonbush Wind Farm hydrogen fund bid
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An opponent of a planned green hydrogen project at Gordonbush Wind Farm has slammed developers SSE after learning the firm could receive funding from the UK government towards it.
SSE announced this week that two of its green hydrogen projects – at Gordonbush and Aldbrough – have been selected by the UK government to progress to the final stage of its Net Zero Hydrogen Fund.
The fund aims to back the development and deployment of new low-carbon hydrogen production to de-risk investment and reduce lifetime costs.
But Christina Perera, whose home at Ascoile is the nearest residence to Gordonbush Wind Farm – located at Strath Brora – said SSE was “shameless” for being prepared to take public money.
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She said: “SSE are utterly shameless. The company which has reported a profit of £2.3 billion, of which SSE Renewables contributes £380 million, is proud to announce that they are now fleecing the Westminster government of yet more public money for their ill-conceived industrial hydrogen plant in Strath Brora.
“SSE have already had in excess of £22 million of public money just for Gordonbush Wind Farm, purely in constraint payments. This includes more than £2 million on their so-called ‘unsubsidised’ extension.
“They have also wheedled a grant of £304,000 from the Scottish Government and now they are after an undisclosed sum from London.”
Gordonbush Hydrogen plans to produce and deliver green hydrogen through electrolysis using renewable energy from SSE Renewables’ 100MW wind farm at Gordonbush. The scheme is currently undergoing “refinements” prior to a planning application being submitted.
SSE’s stakeholder engagement manager Gareth Shields said the progression to the final stage of the net zero fund “should not be seen as an indication that the project is guaranteed to proceed into planning or construction”.
“It is an opportunity for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero to continue to assess whether projects like Gordonbush are deliverable, affordable and represent value for money,” he said.
Ms Perera maintains the plan for a hydrogen plant at Gordonbush “defies all logic”.
She said the wind farm was too far from the market and that hydrogen tankers would impact on the fragile road network as well as on livestock, wildlife and road users.
She is also concerned that the process would need millions of litres of water when she and other neighbouring houses relied completely on private water supplies from the ground. “None of this makes any sense,” she said.
