Shetland to run on clean energy 

The car industry is committed to cars of the future running on alternative energy. In an innovative project in Shetland, surplus energy from wind turbines will be used to produce hydrogen, proving that it can compete with petrol.

As early as 2008, some minibuses in Shetland will use hydrogen instead of petrol in an innovative and pioneering project that uses surplus energy from wind turbines to generate hydrogen.

It is an appealing solution for small communities in very windy locations, but in order to verify the results on a larger scale, the Shetland experience will be used as a run-up to a more comprehensive project.

Photo: Scanpix
Four-legged transport was replaced by petrol and diesel eingines, which will now be replaced by hydrogen in Shetland, taking advantage of surplus wind energy.


Cutting dependency on ordinary energy COWI is conducting the project for the Shetland Island Council's Energy Recovery Plant, which burns waste from Shetland, Orkney and the offshore industry. In an attempt to cut dependency on ordinary energy, the Council is looking into alternative energy, one option being to erect wind turbines.

As wind is not a stable energy source, energy is buffered through battery stores to compensate for the fluctuation in production. During surplus production periods, energy from the wind turbines can be used to produce hydrogen that powers, for example, local buses, by hooking the energy up to an electrolysis device fed only with demineralised water. The water is then split into oxygen and hydrogen, and the hydrogen used as vehicle fuel.

Sector awaiting results

"We're talking about technology still very much in its infancy. Both car and hydrogen producers are waiting for results at the moment, so very few vehicles are driving on hydrogen today and they're expensive, not being mass-produced," says Andrzej Brones, project manager at COWI.

The Shetland project team are also waiting for a manufacturer to supply buses that run on hydrogen. For now, one option might be to lease buses from Canada, which has decided to promote the use of hydrogen in its cities.

By Christina Tækker, cht@cowi.com
Published: 26.04.2007