Scots £45m 'green hydrogen' plant construction yet to begin amid four year wait

The battery energy storage site just off the M74 in Lanarkshire
-Credit: (Image: Dave Johnston)


Work has yet to begin on a £45million “green hydrogen” production plant promised for Scotland four years ago. Energy firm HY2GO claimed it would create hundreds of jobs with its “inspirational” project to place Scotland at the forefront of the emerging renewable technology in the run up to COP26.

The project is run by the son of a former Tory donor property tycoon whose dad, Tom Coakley, was banned as a company director for seven years over tax debts in 2015.

A massive solar and wind farm was to be constructed around a hydrogen electrolyser which would produce fuel cells for eco-friendly buses in time to ferry delegates around the climate conference.

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But when we visited the site of the proposed development close to Lesmahagow in Lanarkshire last week, there was no sign of HY2GO or the futuristic plant promised. Accounts filed at Companies House show the firm has just two employees despite having over £10million in shareholder funds noted.

Tom Baxter, a former BP chemical engineer and visiting professor at the University of Strathclyde, said: “It is no surprise to me that this project has not progressed. These hydrogen schemes are expensive compared to electrification and it is unclear whether they will ever be economically viable.

“There is nothing new or wrong in big business promoting it but most projects will be highly reliant on grant funding from government.

“Hydrogen will have industrial applications in the future but the groupings promoting it tend to do so in near isolation without fully presenting other options. In this isolated context, it is easy for politicians to be seduced.”

Hy2Go’s 51-acres of wind turbines and solar panels were to feed a 9mw hydrogen electrolyser, with the capacity to increase the size to 20MW in a second-phase expansion. The Scottish Government confirmed it had been aware of initial proposals for this project but was not aware of any subsequent public funding.

Simon Coakley, managing director of HY2GO, said: “There have been delays but we still fully intend to go ahead with the hydrogen plant and I hope that construction work can begin next year.” Simon’s biography on the HY2GO website states that he is “rejuvenating the family’s interest in the renewable energy sector”.

It emerged most of the money was borrowed against a field in Lesmahagow he bought for £300,000. The chairman of HY2GO is controversial banker Benny Higgins, who helped set up the Scottish Government’s green investment bank which ploughs public money into renewable projects.

Millionaire businessman Jo Bamford is also involved in the scheme and had agreed to a “significant offtake” of fuel once production began for hydrogen powered buses built by his firm.

Bamford is the son of JCB founder Lord Bamford, who hosted Boris Johnson’s wedding on his Cotswolds estate and has donated millions to the Tories.

In 2020, Bamford said the plans by Ryse and Hy2Go provide the “inspirational prospect” of Scottish made hydrogen being used to transport COP26 delegates around Glasgow.

He said: “This would be an ideal demonstration to the world that Scotland is perfectly placed to be a world-leader in hydrogen production because of its abundance of wind and water, which are the two ingredients you need to make hydrogen.”

Last week, Scottish Government minister Angus Robertson said after attending a conference along with US, Norwegian and German officials: “Scotland has the resources, the people and the ambition to become a world leader in hydrogen production.”

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