Public Procurement and Property

Scotland’s pioneering hydrogen city-H2Aberdeen

November 10, 2021 by Guest Blogger No Comments | Category climate change, Environment, Guest Blog, Procurement news, Scottish Procurement, Sustainability

Today’s COP26 theme is Transport, with a focus on “driving the global transition to zero emission transport”. To celebrate this theme, we welcome a guest blog from H2Aberdeen. A programme of Aberdeen City Council to make the region the Hydrogen Hub of Scotland.

On Monday 25^th of October, Aberdeen City Council announced bp as its preferred bidder for a commercial partnership which will accelerate the city’s ambitions to become a world-class hydrogen hub.

Procurement process

The Hub concept initially stemmed from the European Interreg HyTrEc2 project. Which established levels of demand for hydrogen in Aberdeen City by 2030, and laid out the business case for moving hydrogen deployment from pilot projects to a commercial scale as part of an energy transition offering for the region.

In December 2020, a Prior Information Notice market sounding exercise was held to establish commercial interest from the private sector on working with the Council to develop Aberdeen as a Hydrogen Hub. 27 expressions of interest were received, with the exercise concluding that there was considerable interest from investors, that a Joint Venture structure was deemed attractive to the market, and that the Council’s anchor demand for hydrogen for buses and fleet was a ‘game changer’ in relation to kick starting the Hub.

The Council published a Contract Notice in June inviting Bidders to submit requests to participate in a Competitive Dialogue Procedure to find a Joint Venture Partner.

An innovative approach to the dialogue minimised time and costs for both the Bidders and the Council and allowed preferred bidder appointment just 5 months after issue of the contract notice. This dialogue included:

• bidders submitting first draft tender documents prior to commencement of dialogue meetings, allowing meetings to be focused on the issues raised by those submissions
• a dynamic and flexible approach to dialogue which focused on resolving issues rather than formal pre-set meetings and agendas;
• focus on high quality project management using a dedicated platform to manage procurement documentation.

The procurement process ensured that the final bids received were thorough and expanded on critical areas.

H2aberdeen journey + value to the city

Aberdeen has been on its hydrogen journey for almost a decade now, and is home to two hydrogen refuelling stations and 57 hydrogen vehicles, including the World’s first hydrogen double decker buses. Already a centre of excellence for hydrogen, the City continues to pioneer the fuel and in doing so set the standards for energy transition.

Aberdeen City Council leader, Councillor Jenny Laing, said:

“This is a huge announcement for Aberdeen. It paves the way for the city to be a world leader in the production of hydrogen-based green fuel and energy.

“It will help create a cleaner, more sustainable city for local people and it also provides us with the opportunity to create hundreds of skilled jobs and add millions to the Aberdeen economy.

“There is tremendous investment potential, and we already have deep-rooted skills and experience in the energy sector to tap into.

“Aberdeen has a worldwide reputation as a pioneering hydrogen city with a net zero emissions vision. We are already leading the way to a greener, cleaner future and working with bp, we intend to put Aberdeen at the forefront of the green economic recovery.”

The Aberdeen Hydrogen Hub programme will support Aberdeen City Council’s ambitions to create a climate positive city and build inclusive growth through supporting hydrogen supply chain development, skills and training, and wider community benefits. A study commissioned by Aberdeen City Council on the growth in demand for hydrogen power estimates that if the hydrogen hub enables the export of renewable hydrogen, then 700 skilled jobs could be created in the hydrogen industry by 2030.

Follow H2Aberdeen on Twitter and LinkedIn.
Read more about how hydrogen will play a key role in Aberdeen’s energy transition and showcase the City’s achievements and aspirations in hydrogen technology.

Thanks to H2Aberdeen! An exciting and inspiring initiative, showing Scotland’s progress toward an inclusive and green economy.

To find out more about Public Procurement in Scotland, please visit www.gov.scot/procurement

Email enquiries to scottishprocurement@gov.scot

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Tags: Aberdeen, aberdeen city council, climate change, Community benefits, COP26, environmental benefits, guest blog, H2Aberdeen, hydrogen, innovation, procurement, Public procurement, public sector, public sector procurement, Scottish Procurement, Sustainability

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