Energy / Scatsta hydrogen announcement still two to three weeks away
AN ANNOUNCEMENT on a 400MW ammonia and hydrogen plant planned by energy giant Statkraft on council land around the former Scatsta airport site is now not expected before Easter.
Councillors agreed in principle to lease the land to the Norwegian state-owned energy firm during a meeting behind closed doors at the end of last month.
While an announcement was initially planned for last week and then for Wednesday this week, it now appears that this will now only happen later this month.
In an e-mail to all councillors, SIC’s chief law officer Jan Riise meanwhile reminded elected members that confidentiality should be maintained at all times, and they should refrain from making any public statements on the matter.
The large plant, should it go ahead, would break new ground in terms of production of hydrogen and its derivative ammonia which is powered by wind energy, and could play a defining role in Shetland’s future green energy path.
The deal the SIC has struck with Statkraft will also be regarded as a first principal test of what new council policies on community benefit and getting a fair deal for Shetland are worth in reality, including the ambition of receiving 2.5 per cent of revenue from future projects.
Shetland News understands that contrary to suggestions in reports elsewhere there will be an element of community benefit.
Statkraft is also behind three planned wind farms in the isles, two on Yell and one outside Lerwick, as well as another hydrogen project for which the company has recently been shortlisted for possible UK Government funding.
Council chief executive Maggie Sandison said she could understand the growing frustration with the ongoing delays in making details of the hydrogen deal public.
She said it could take another two to three weeks before lawyers on both sides were happy for details to be made public.
At last month’s meeting councillors agreed delegated authority to council officers to finalise and implement the agreement with Statkraft.
But the chief executive added that the agreement between the SIC and Statkraft did not mean the project would go ahead. Before anything can be built the plant would require planning permission, a process which by its very nature is public, she said.
“Matters around contracts are one of the things that we are expected to deal privately, but they only remain private for a period of time,” Sandison said.
“The decision process remains private for a period of time, but we will make, in time, this a matter of public record.
“If there is any development that happens on any bid of land, it will be public process, because it needs planning permission.
“So there will be public opportunity, and nothing is defined in terms of deliverability of anything until those proper permissions are in place.
“Access to land doesn’t guarantee access to planning permission. So, it will be an entirely open process that sits alongside. (…) Without appropriate permission nothing will get done.”
Council leader Emma Macdonald was on annual leave this week and could not be contacted.
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