The protagonists who lead Green Hydrogen projects in Spain

Posted on: 22 / 11 / 2023 | 0 Comentarios | Tags: Green hydrogen projects, The protagonists who lead Green Hydrogen projects in Spain

Cepsa, Iberdrola, Enagás, Endesa, Naturgy, Fertiberia, ArcelorMittal, Repsol and DH2 Energy are some of the main protagonists who lead Green Hydrogen projects in Spain.

Companies deploy the majority of these projects through Hydrogen Valleys or Clusters, a concept that refers to the creation of public-private business ecosystems that aim to facilitate the connection between producers, R&D&I developers and consumers of this gas. renewable, which have benefited from 200 million euros of NextGenEU funds from the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (PRTR).

In a second wave of funds worth 150 million euros, approved at the beginning of November, the provisional list of the second call for aid from the H2 Pioneros program has been known, among which are the 14 projects of new protagonists such as Acciona Plug, Petronor, Lhyfe, Walia Energy and Capital Energy, Air Liquide, Fusion Fuel, Ric Energy or Sener.

Altogether there are projects for up to 11 hydrogen valleys spread across Castilla-La Mancha, Andalusia, Catalonia, Extremadura, the Basque Country, Galicia, Asturias, Castilla y León, Murcia, Aragón and Mallorca. According to the estimate of the Spanish Hydrogen Association (AeH2) at the beginning of the year, the planned investment was 21.9 billion euros by 2030, according to the hundred or so projects registered in 2022, although this figure currently seems higher , with investments of around 26 billion.

The protagonists who lead Green Hydrogen projects in Spain

Cepsa is one of the main protagonists leading green hydrogen projects in Spain. It heads the Andalusian Hydrogen Valley, one of the largest projects of its kind in Europe. The planned operation includes an investment of 3 billion euros to inaugurate the energy parks of San Roque (Cádiz) and Palos de la Frontera (Huelva) in 2027. Likewise, the initiative contemplates an additional investment of 2 billion in wind and solar energy generation to power the hydrogen electrifiers.

Through these two centers, located in Huelva and Cádiz, Cepsa’s commitment is to launch a total capacity of 2 GW of electrolysis, or in other words, the generation of a total of 300,000 tons of green hydrogen in Andalusia. 

The Huelva plant, which will be located on Cepsa land, in the vicinity of the La Rábida Energy Park, will be commissioned in 2026 and will reach maximum capacity in 2028. The Campo de Gibraltar plant will be installed within the Park Energético San Roque and will be operational in 2027.

The company is also working with the Port of Rotterdam to create the first green hydrogen maritime corridor between northern and southern Europe between Algeciras and Rotterdam.

For its part, Repsol  leads the ‘Shyne’ consortium, in which Enagás, Alsa, Bosh, Talgo, Iberia, Sidenor and Navantia also participate, which plans to develop plants in 10 autonomous communities by 2030 with a global investment of 3,2 billions of euros. One of the main projects of the consortium is the Tarragona Hydrogen Network or ‘T-HYNET’, which aims to supply close to 50% of the hydrogen needed by the extensive chemical hub of Tarragona. The plant will be located in the refinery that Repsol has in that province. The investment in the first phase, which is expected to be operational in 2025, exceeds 200 million euros, to which another 80 million could be added in energy storage. The second phase, starting in 2027, would increase production capacity with a new investment of 1 billion.

The project is framed in the Hydrogen Valley of Catalonia, which will be integrated through the Ebro Hydrogen Corridor with the Hydrogen Valley of Aragon and the Basque Hydrogen Corridor (BH2C) in which Petronor (Repsol group) will invest 1,383 million until 2026 together with partners such as Enagás.

Repsol champions important regional initiatives to promote the creation of hydrogen clusters, such as the Hydrogen Valley of Catalonia, promoted by Repsol and Enagás, and coordinated by the Rovira i Virgili University (URV); as well as the Hydrogen Valley of the Region of Murcia, where Repsol is one of the main promoters; and also highlights its participation in the Castilla-La Mancha Hydrogen Cluster. Likewise, in Galicia it is developing another initiative together with Naturgy and Reganosa to install the H2 Meirama renewable hydrogen plant, in Cerceda (La Coruña). With a disbursement of more than 64 million euros, in the first phase it will have an initial power of 30 MW, which will allow for a production of 4,500 tons of renewable hydrogen per year. In the two subsequent phases it will reach 50 MW and 200 MW respectively, achieving a production of about 30,000 tons of renewable hydrogen per year.

Investment of 15 billion from Iberdrola

In turn, Iberdrola is another of the energy companies that are committed to gaining a foothold in the Spanish hydrogen market. The company develops 90 initiatives in renewables and green H2 with an investment that will reach 15,000 million euros and alliances with more than 150 SMEs and large companies

Along with its 20MW electrolysis plant in Puertollano (Ciudad Real), which materializes this year, the company plans to invest 2,000 million until 2027 to create other hydrogen production facilities, such as the one planned to supply Fertiberia in the port of Palos de la Frontera (Huelva), with the aim of producing fertilizers with a minimum carbon footprint. This plant, known as ‘GreenH2F’, will require about 1,1 billion (450 million for the first phase, which should be ready in 2026).

In addition, Iberdrola together with BP also leads the Hydrogen Cluster of the Valencian Community, called ‘HyVal’, which will have as its first client the refinery that the oil company operates in Castellón, to later supply the ceramic and chemical sector of the region, among others. others. The investment planned until 2030 amounts to 2,000 million euros and at the moment it has received a first public aid of 15 million euros to build the electrolyzer.

With the Swedish company H2 Green Steel, it will build another production plant whose hydrogen will be used for steel smelting with 95% less CO2 emissions.

For their part, Enagás and Naturgy have another large hydrogen project to convert the La Robla thermal power plant (León), currently in the process of dismantling, into the heart of the ‘Robla Hub’, with a cost of 485 million euros and start-up date for the year 2026. The plant will entail an investment of 485 million euros and will prevent the emission into the atmosphere of more than 430,000 tons of CO2 per year, contributing to the decarbonization of the industrial processes of companies in the area. 

Likewise, Enagás, Naturgy, Fertiberia and Vestas participate in the consortium promoted by Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) to obtain hydrogen and ammonia in Teruel (Aragon). The first phase could start this year. The budget is 2 billion euros and entry into commercial operation is scheduled for 2027.

For their part, ‘HyDeal España’, the consortium led by DH2 Energy and involving ArcelorMittal, Enagás and the Fertiberia Group and a consortium that brings together the entire value chain plans to build a green hydrogen plant in Asturias, with a second phase scheduled between 2025 and 2026. It will become a pioneering global project for the production of green hydrogen and ammonia, green fertilizers and other low-carbon industrial products. The global budget for all the infrastructure planned in ‘HyDeal Spain’ exceeds 1.5 billion euros.

The first stage of the project will supply an important industrial complex located in Asturias, producing renewable hydrogen through electrolysis and at a competitive price with respect to other fossil fuels thanks to solar plants located in different parts of the northern half of Spain. Production is scheduled to begin in 2025, and it expects to have a total installed capacity of 9.5 GW that will supply electricity to 7.4 GW of electrolysis power by 2030.

Also in Asturias, EDP España and Corporación Masaveu will transform the Aboño thermal power plant into the future Asturian Green Hydrogen Valley, where the electricity company continues to advance in the development of a first phase with an initial capacity of 150 MW of electrolyzers on the site, and a second phase of 350 MW, in which a total capacity on the site of 500 MW of electrolyzers would be reached, which will involve an investment of more than 200 million euros.

New protagonists leading green hydrogen projects in Spain

The Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO) definitively granted 200 million euros to support 37 renewable hydrogen projects in its first call last April 2023 to promote innovative and value chain-generating initiatives in renewable hydrogen within the framework of the Strategic Project for the Recovery and Economic Recovery of Renewable Energy, Renewable Hydrogen and Storage (PERTE ERHA).

MITECO published the final award of 200 million euros to promote 19 projects from the first call for H2 Pioneers and another 18 from calls 1 and 2 of the H2 Value Chain program. Subsequently, at the beginning of June 2023, it granted another €100 million to large electrolyzer projects for the production of renewable hydrogen within the framework of Line 3 of the H2 Value Chain Program.  In the near future. In the near future, line 4 of the H2 Value Chain program is scheduled to be closed, endowed with 40 million to promote basic research in this technology.

In addition, the list of the second call for H2 Pioneros has recently been provisionally approved, endowed with 150 million for innovative and integrated initiatives for local production and consumption of renewable hydrogen. These projects will mobilize another 553 million euros in private investment. Among these are new protagonists who lead Green Hydrogen projects in Spain, such as Acciona Plug (€15 million), in Navarra; Petronor (€13.2 million), in the Basque Country; EDP ​​(€14.9 million) or Redexis (€9.3 million) and Alene Solar (€9.5 million), in Andalusia; Walia Energy- Capital Energia (€15 million), Enel Green Power (€15 million), AI Air Liquide (€6 million) and Fusion Fuel (€1.1 million), in Aragón; Lhyfe (€14 million) and Sener (€1.6 million), in Catalonia; ET Fluels Spain (€15 million) and Ric Sun (€4.9 million), in Castilla-La Mancha, and Universal Kraft (€15 million) in Galicia.

Hydrogen value chain

E&M Combustión is a leading company in the thermal combustion installations sector and provides basic support by accompanying its clients in this challenging process of incorporating hydrogen into their industrial processes. “The experience of our technologists and the guarantee provided by a reliable combustion system with this fuel is essential, and advice on this matter is essential.”