Hydrogen schemes have an important role in Scotland’s net zero planning and the Scottish Government is keen to support the sector’s growth. Reflecting this, developers and landowners across Scotland are increasingly interested in the potential of ‘green’ hydrogen schemes.
As with any emerging technology, developing a hydrogen scheme involves expertise on multiple fronts, including technical, commercial, regulatory, and legal areas. But while the technology and commercial aspects are in their early days, the good news for developers is that the legal work follows the same blueprint as other renewables projects. The legal issues can still be complex but many of them are already familiar to practitioners working in the renewables field.
In addition, guidance from the Scottish Government, published in February 2026, has consolidated and clarified the planning and consenting processes for hydrogen projects of different sizes. It’s a welcome step for everyone from developers to regulators.
Why hydrogen?
The enthusiasm for hydrogen is linked to the fact that, unlike fossil fuels, it doesn’t emit CO2 when combusted. And while traditional ‘grey’ hydrogen is produced by splitting natural gas and therefore fossil-fuel intensive, the newer ‘green’ hydrogen schemes have a much lower environmental impact. They produce hydrogen by electrolysing water using renewable energy sources, such as onshore or offshore wind, hydro, or solar power.
As the Scottish Government said when it committed to making hydrogen a key element of its decarbonisation plans, Scotland has ‘in abundance all the raw ingredients necessary for the production of low-cost, clean hydrogen’. Pilot and commercial green hydrogen projects are in the pipeline in locations across Scotland.
Engage early
As yet, relatively few of these hydrogen projects have reached the consenting stage, but the February 2026 planning and consenting guidance makes it easier to navigate the key steps and requirements involved. Bringing together information on different regulatory processes into a single comprehensive guide, it emphasises the importance of early engagement and consultation with regulators, planning authorities, and other stakeholders.
From our own wide experience of supporting renewables development, we would also recommend early engagement with lawyers. By doing so, you can anticipate and address any legal issues that could otherwise create risks or delays at the planning, consenting, and licensing stages.
Key legal issues
As noted earlier, the legal work involved in hydrogen projects follows the same model as other renewable projects, focusing on drawing up, negotiating, and finalising option agreements and leases for the exclusive possession of land to house infrastructure and storage plant facilities. In getting to this stage, an experienced commercial property team can guide developers through all the possible key considerations such as:
- Access to and from public roads
- Pre-existing cable and pipeline servitudes
- Consent of agricultural tenants
- Ownership of mineral rights
Alongside these similarities with other renewable schemes, such as solar and hydro, there is also a key difference: the need to secure water abstraction rights. This is regulated by SEPA and may require a permit, depending on the daily volume of water to be abstracted.
Developers may also need to secure abstraction rights from the landowner of the water supply as well as rights of access to abstraction points and servitude rights for pipes and discharge infrastructure. This may involve third-party landowners where the water supply is on land not owned by the owner of the option site.
Water abstraction rights may also cause ripples in the local community: a proposed hydrogen project in Speyside was recently refused planning permission, despite having support from the government and the whisky industry. Councillors thought that local biodiversity and water scarcity concerns had been ‘insufficiently addressed’.
Clear potential for progress
At present, green hydrogen remains a young sector in Scotland. But the publication of the Scottish Government guidance earlier this year reiterates its ambition for hydrogen to be a ‘key component’ of the transition to green energy and achieving net zero.
The door is wide open for the hydrogen sector to grow, and experienced, commercially focused legal advice can make the process significantly smoother for developers and operators.
