• Glen Urquhart High School has won the Scottish Schools’ Hydrogen Challenge
• On the eve of COP26, students competed to build the most efficient green hydrogen Lego vehicle at ScottishPower’s headquarters in Glasgow
• Over 4,000 pupils took part in the challenge competition since it launched at the end of August

Glen Urquhart High School has been crowned the champion of the Scottish Schools’ Hydrogen Challenge after an exciting grand final in Glasgow, the COP26 host city.

The challenge has seen over 4,000 second year students from over 70 schools across Scotland compete in teams of three to build the most efficient vehicle fuelled by green hydrogen.

Travelling across Scotland including Wick, Fort William, Inverness, Aberdeen, Perth, Kinross, Dundee, Stirling, Falkirk, Edinburgh and Glasgow, the challenge has seen students have showing teamwork, determination and the ability to problem solve as they worked to develop their vehicle.

In the lead up to COP26, the challenge was delivered by Arcola Energy and supported by partners ScottishPower, ITM Power, Arup, Abbott Risk Consulting, Opito, the Scottish Cities Alliance and the Hydrogen Accelerator. It aimed to educate students on the role  of green hydrogen in tackling the ongoing climate emergency, opportunities for careers in this new industry and to help create excitement ahead of COP26.

Barry Carruthers, ScottishPower’s Hydrogen Director, said: “On the eve of COP26 we are so thrilled to welcome students to our headquarters here in Glasgow for what has been an incredible grand finale to the Scottish Schools’ Hydrogen Challenge.

“I’d like to congratulate Glen Urquhart High School for their incredible total distance of 105m – achieved with Lego and some green hydrogen.

“Green hydrogen is going to prove crucial in Scotland’s work to achieve Net Zero emissions by 2045, it can provide the zero carbon fuel needed where electrification can’t or won’t reach. We hope this challenge has helped inspire some of the students we have met over the past few weeks and I have no doubt we will see some of them in the future helping to lead the way in a thriving green hydrogen economy.”

In what was a very tight competition, second place went to Plockton High school with a total distance of 99.36m and third place was awarded to Liberton High school for a total distance of 95m.

Dr. Ben Todd, CEO, Arcola Energy said: “The Scottish Hydrogen Schools Challenge has been a great opportunity to bring together students from local communities across the country and we have been impressed with their passion for making an impact on climate change,”

“Arcola Energy has delivered hands-on hydrogen education programmes to more than 100,000 students over the past 12 years, as part of our goal to deliver practical solutions to decarbonise transport - many examples of which will be on Scottish roads in the coming years.”

Dr Graham Cooley, CEO, ITM Power, said: “The Schools Hydrogen Challenge has been an incredible success. We are proud to be working with partners Arcola and Scottish Power, who are as passionate as we are about inspiring the future generation of scientists and engineers. We hope all the students who took part enjoyed the programme. Who knows, maybe we will be working with them in the future!”