The EU endorses the ‘hydrogen plan’ with projects from Repsol, Iberdrola and Endesa

The project named IPCEI Hy2Use was prepared and notified jointly by thirteen European countries, including Spain, and plans to mobilize up to 7,000 million in private investments.

The European Commission authorizes Spain and twelve other EU countries to invest 5,200 million euros of public funding to promote research and innovation on hydrogen, as well as its industrial application and the construction of infrastructures of the battery value chain, aimed at a portfolio of projects including a total of seven Spaniards led by Repsol, Iberdrola, Endesa and EDP Spain. The project named IPCEI Hy2Use was prepared and notified jointly by thirteen European countries: Spain, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Slovakia, Finland, France, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal and Sweden. Thus, Member States will contribute 5,200 million euros that are estimated to mobilize 7,000 million euros in private investments.

Within the framework of this second major project of common European interest (IPCEI), 29 companies with activities in one or more EU countries will participate in 35 projects, including two from Repsol and EDP and an initiative from Iberdrola and Endesa, respectively. In the case of the Repsol projects that have received this qualification, these are the two large electrolysers projected in the Escombreras Hydrogen Valley (Cartagena) and in the Basque Hydrogen Corridor, two areas with significant industrial consumption.

The energy company led by Josu Jon Imaz will promote the construction of a large-scale electrolyzer, with 100 megawatts (MW) of capacity in its first phase, with the aim of promoting the decarbonization of the industries located in the Escombreras Valley. According to the studies carried out so far, it is estimated that, thanks to this electrolyser, the emission of more than 167,000 tons of_CO2 per year will be avoided and about 1,100 jobs could be generated. Meanwhile, the electrolyzer to be built in Bilbao will be the heart of the Basque Hydrogen Corridor and will have a capacity of 100 MW. Both projects are an important part of Repsol’s renewable hydrogen strategy, which plans to reach 552 MW of installed capacity in 2025 and 1.9 MW in 2030, almost 50% of the commitment by the Spanish Government for this technology.

With regard to Endesa, it has among those selected a project, together with Enel Green Power (Enel’s renewables subsidiary), with the company Industrias Químicas del Ebro (IQE). The company led by José Bogas has a macroplan to promote the development of green hydrogen in Spain that includes an investment of close to 3,000 million. In the case of Iberdrola, the energy company’s selected green hydrogen initiative is for industrial uses in Puertollano (Ciudad Real) and Palos de la Frontera (Huelva). Green hydrogen happens to be one of the great vectors of growth for the energy company, which already develops a significant number of projects – with a portfolio that will require investments of more than 3,000 million euros by 2030 – For its part, the energy company EDP has a total of three projects among the seven chosen for Spain by Brussels, with hydrogen for Aboño and Los Barrios, and its project called IAM Caecius in Aragon. The IPCEI Hy2Use initiative will cover a large part of the hydrogen value chain to support the construction of hydrogen infrastructure, such as large-scale electrolysers and transport infrastructure to produce, store and transport renewable and low-carbon hydrogen. The project will also promote the development of innovative and sustainable technologies to integrate hydrogen into industrial processes in various sectors, especially those with greater difficulties to decarbonize, such as the steel, cement or glass industry.

The purpose of this important project of common European interest is to reduce dependence on natural gas while increasing the supply of renewable hydrogen, for which it is expected that between 2024 and 2026 several large-scale electrolysers will be put into operation, as well as innovative technologies that will come into operation between 2026 and 2027. Norway, as a member of the European Economic Area, will also participate in this initiative with two specific projects. The PIICE Hy2Use is the continuation of the first PIICE Hy2Tech project, approved in July 2022 by the Community Executive to boost the hydrogen value chain, although the first of the initiatives focuses on end users in the mobility sector and covers neither the infrastructures for hydrogen nor its applications in the industrial sector.

Source: La Información