TÜV SÜD to run Aberdeen’s giant green hydrogen testbed
German safety giant TÜV SÜD is set to operate a major new hydrogen test facility in Aberdeen, after signing a deal with the UK’s Energy Transition Zone (ETZ) Ltd.
The imaginatively named Green Hydrogen Test and Demonstration Facility – that’s GHTDF for short – will become the centrepiece of the city’s so-called “Hydrogen Campus”.
If all goes to plan (and funding arrives), the site will open its doors in early 2027, with a final investment decision expected in early 2026.
TÜV SÜD takes the wheel
The German firm will be responsible for running the site once built, and in a statement, TÜV SÜD said the facility will test “key equipment at industrial scale” to ensure “long-term safety and reliability”.
Dr Martin Hanton, TÜV SÜD’s Green Energy & Sustainability Director for Northern Europe, called Aberdeen a “natural fit”, thanks to its oil-and-gas legacy and growing hydrogen scene.
“TÜV SÜD’s specialism in reducing risk to people, assets and environment marries closely with the city’s HSE legacy,” he added.
ETZ’s big hydrogen hope
The facility is pitched as a catalyst for turning Aberdeen from offshore oil hub to hydrogen heavyweight.
ETZ’s Martin McCormack called it “a major development for Aberdeen” claiming the facility will be “one of the foremost green hydrogen test facilities in Europe once it is built”.
Lofty ambitions, then, but underpinned by a practical aim: to give companies an open-access site where they can test bleeding-edge hydrogen gear without having to build their own rig from scratch.
ETZ hopes it’ll attract investment and enable green hydrogen production at industrial scale.
McCormack added that hydrogen could help decarbonise “heavy transport, industrial processes, and potentially even heating homes”.
Test early, test often
Once it’s up and running, the facility will be open for business – welcoming manufacturers and engineers who want to run the numbers, break a few prototypes, and prove that their tech won’t catch fire when you turn it on. It’s a place to make mistakes before they become headlines.
In the meantime, TÜV SÜD and ETZ are asking industry players to chip in their wish lists.
They’ve launched a “Market Requirements” form, inviting anyone with skin in the hydrogen game to say what kind of equipment and services they’d like to see.
From oil rigs to electrolysers
All this is part of Aberdeen’s wider attempt to reinvent itself as a clean energy capital – turning oil-era infrastructure, expertise, and acronyms into something a bit more 2050.
And while the facility won’t produce hydrogen itself, it’s meant to make that production easier, safer, and hopefully cheaper down the line.
The Hydrogen Campus could give the UK a proper, industrial-scale proving ground for green hydrogen kit.
