Shetland Renewable Energy Forum (SREF) has been awarded funding from Shetland Enterprise and Shetland Islands Council to employ IPA Energy Consulting to carry out a feasibility study for a Hydrogen Study Centre in Shetland.

Already billions of pounds of public and private investment in research and development of hydrogen production, storage and applications has been pledged in Europe, North America and Japan.  Shetland's energy situation makes it an attractive place for establishing a hydrogen research and development centre, creating quality new jobs for local engineering graduates. This is what IPA Energy Consulting will be assessing.

SREF chairman, David Thomson, said: "Shetland has an enormous renewable energy potential in the form of wind, wave and tidal power which it is currently difficult to exploit commercially without an interconnector to the UK grid.  Being at the end of the supply chain for fossil fuels, Shetland has amongst the highest petrol and gas costs in the UK.

"Hydrogen offers an opportunity to develop our local renewable energy production prior to an interconnector cable being established, and to place Shetland at the forefront of the development of distributed electricity generation.  We hope that a hydrogen study centre in Shetland would provide both a commercial research and development focus, as well as providing training and study opportunities for local engineers."

Shetland is already leading the way in hydrogen developments in the UK.  The Promoting Unst Renewable Energy (PURE) Project in Unst will deliver the first community owned hydrogen production facility in Europe.  The PURE project has attracted a great deal of interest worldwide from academic institutions, politicians and the business community.  This project has demonstrated that contracts for field trials, testing and research, as well as more general learning opportunities can be brought to Shetland.

David Watson, a development manager with Shetland Enterprise, said: "Through parties involved in the PURE project, several other local hydrogen related projects are being pursued.  A hydrogen study centre based in Shetland would assist these projects, support the emerging hydrogen industries and ensure that we retain our place at the forefront of this exciting new area of technological development."

The SREF's aim is to ensure Shetland maximises the economic and community benefits of developing its renewable energy resources while minimising the impact on the environment of the islands.  A hydrogen study centre fits into this vision firstly by supporting the research, development and storage of locally generated renewable energy.  And secondly by tapping into substantial resources being allocated for this at an international level, in order to attract inward investment to Shetland and create jobs - initially in research and development.