Exclusive:SNP poised to U-turn on Patrick Harvie's hydrogen boiler ban amid heat pumps slump

John Swinney has raised the prospect of hydrogen-ready boilers being used as an alternative to heat pumps in Scotland’s transition to clean energy systems.

John Swinney has opened the door to Scots being able to use hydrogen-ready boilers as an alternative to heat pumps in contentious green heating plans to be set out by the Scottish Government.

The First Minister told The Scotsman that using hydrogen for heating was “a new prospect” and “a really exciting opportunity” as the Scottish Government draws up legislation to require Scots to end the use of traditional fossil fuel boilers.

John Swinney has backed the exploration of hydrogen heating (Picture: Jane Barlow) | PA

The heat in building plans, set to be published before Holyrood enters summer recess in July, would chart a path to decarbonising heating systems across Scotland by 2045.

But the initial heat in building plans, put together by Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie, excluded hydrogen-ready boilers from being installed.

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Mr Harvie, who oversaw the policy during his time as zero carbon buildings minister before Humza Yousaf ripped up the Bute House Agreement, stated that hydrogen-ready boilers would be classed as “direct emissions heating systems”.

But the First Minister has signalled that the new heat in buildings plans could carve out a role for hydrogen-ready boilers, as an alternative to heat pumps, following him seeing first-hand a world-first SGN trial in Fife.

A green hydrogen pilot by SGN is taking place for up to 300 homes in Fife (Pic: SGN)

Asked whether hydrogen-ready boilers could play a role in decarbonising Scotland’s heating systems, Mr Swinney said: “I'm very keen on the opportunities through hydrogen.

“I thought the project in Fife was absolutely fascinating. The visualisation of the generation of renewable energy from a turbine right on the shore, the conversion to hydrogen through an electrolyser, the storage capacity and the network of properties is a really exciting opportunity for us and it gives us a new prospect, not just for heat in buildings, but for other hydrogen uses.

“I'm very excited and positive about that particular development. It also gives us a significant market for the utilisation of the renewable energy that we generate in Scotland.”

But the independent Climate Change Committee, in new analysis issued this week, has stressed that experts “see no role for hydrogen in building heating and only a very niche, if any, role in surface transport”.

The Scottish Government has high hopes to become a big producer of low carbon and green hydrogen and could even export the fuel overseas.

Hydrogen is seen as a greener alternative to climate-polluting fossil fuels, with potential for use to power everything from planes, trains and automobiles to heating for homes

Blue hydrogen is derived from methane natural gas, which splits hydrogen atoms from carbon, which is then stopped from being released into the atmosphere through carbon capture technology.

Green hydrogen, which is currently four times more expensive to produce, splits water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen through electrolysis, powered by renewable wind energy.

The hydrogen can be stored and used for hydrogen-ready boilers and cookers, as well as other uses such as for heavy industry and transport.

Hydrogen-ready boilers could potentially be used as an alternative to renewable heating systems such as heat pumps or heat networks.

The Scottish Government wanted to install around 25,000 heat pumps a year, rising rapidly to 200,000 annually by 2030.

A heat pump | Aira

Statistics from the Home Energy Scotland (HES) grant and loan scheme and the private rented sector landlord loan scheme revealed that less than 9,000 heat pumps have been installed in Scotland since 2019. Only 6,000 accredited heat pumps were installed in total in Scotland last year.

The SGN H100 pilot in Fife is a world-first which will see up to 300 homes powered by green hydrogen. The project will demonstrate an end-to-end system harnessing Scotland’s offshore wind to produce the green hydrogen which could be stored and distributed for heating and cooking.

A spokesperson for SGN said: “The scale and complexity of decarbonising heat means that we’re going to need every tool in the box to achieve it including biomethane, heat networks, heat pumps and hydrogen could also be an important option.

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“SGN is already making progress decarbonising gas networks with biomethane and has the capacity to supply 10 per cent of homes in Scotland. With only 2.5 per cent of the UK’s available organic farm waste used to create this green fuel, there’s still enormous untapped potential for homes, businesses and industry.

“We also see a role for hydrogen blending which can be done now up to 20 per cent in Great Britain’s gas networks removing approximately 6 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions every year.”

The Scottish Greens are sceptical about opening the door to hydrogen-ready boilers.

Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie | Andrew Milligan/Press Association

Mr Harvie said: “The whole industry has been growing steadily colder on this over recent years, and for good reason. Green hydrogen will have an important role in our wider energy system as we transition to net zero, but the basic physics mean it will never get close to the efficiency of other, easier and cheaper clean heat options.

“I hope the FM gets up to speed on this policy area quickly, and gets the delayed legislation introduced to Parliament with urgency.”

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Heating policy is devolved to Holyrood and a decision on the use of hydrogen ready boilers will be made by the Scottish Government in its heat in buildings legislation. But the UK government will consider the potential role hydrogen heating could play in the gas network, which could include blending it with natural gas, as part of a consultation, to take place later this year.

A UK government spokesperson said: “We are assessing the current evidence before consulting this year on the role of hydrogen in home heating, supporting our mission to make the UK a clean energy superpower.”

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Our heat in buildings strategy set out the potential for hydrogen to replace natural gas in some parts of the gas grid. Any such role continues to depend on strategic decisions by the UK government in the coming years.

“The Scottish Government has provided £6.9m grant funding to SGN’s H100 hydrogen for heating project, which will help us understand the role hydrogen can play in decarbonising heat using the gas network.”