The European project Green Hysland will promote the production of green hydrogen in the Balearic Islands

In line with the new EU Hydrogen Strategy, the European Green Hysland project is born to create a “green hydrogen ecosystem” in the Balearic Islands. The objective is to reduce _CO2 emissions and position Spain as a technological benchmark in the production of renewable hydrogen.

The European Commission agency Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH JU) has selected this project to start the process of obtaining a European grant of 10 million euros. According to Acciona, one of the companies promoting this project, it is the second largest subsidy granted by this organization to a green hydrogen project and the first to a Mediterranean country.

Renewable hydrogen production and _CO2 emission reduction

Green Hysland will generate, distribute and use in Mallorca at least 300 t of renewable hydrogen per year, produced from solar energy. The goal is to reduce the island’s _CO2 emissions by up to 20,700 t per year. The project is also part of the “Hydrogen Roadmap: a commitment to renewable hydrogen” recently approved by the Government of Spain, which seeks to position the country as a technological benchmark in the production and use of renewable hydrogen, reaching 4 GW of production capacity in 2030 and mobilizing an estimated total investment of 8,900 million euros.

Mallorca is ideally placed to develop the first renewable hydrogen hub in southern Europe, thus becoming the first European example of an island economy based on green hydrogen, says Acciona. The project will also include the development of studies and business models to replicate the project on other islands inside and outside the European Union.

Applications of green hydrogen in Mallorca

Green hydrogen will have multiple applications on the island, prioritizing the direct consumption of renewable hydrogen, for example, in the supply of fuel to fleets of buses and fuel cell rental vehicles, the generation of heat and power for commercial and public buildings, the supply of auxiliary energy to ferries and port operations and the creation of a supply station.

Likewise, the possibility of part of this green hydrogen being injected into the island’s gas pipeline network will be evaluated, through a Guarantee of Origin System, which will allow decarbonizing the gas supply. The initiative requires a total investment of approximately €50 million, including renewable electricity generation and end-use equipment for green hydrogen.

Project development

The European project is coordinated by Enagás and promoted by Acciona, Cemex and Redexis within a plan to reindustrialize Cemex’s land in Lloseta. Its development is based on a green hydrogen generation plant of Acciona and Enagás. It also has the support of the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism, the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge through the Institute for the Diversification and Saving of Energy (IDAE) and the Balearic Government. The consortium is made up of a total of 30 partners from 11 different countries (9 of them from the European Union, Chile and Morocco), from the industrial, scientific and public sectors.

The initiative includes a roadmap for the development of a widespread renewable hydrogen economy in Mallorca and the Balearic Islands, in line with the environmental objectives set for 2050.

The estimated duration of the Green Hysland project will be from 2021 to 2025. Green Hysland’s hydrogen ecosystem will also make it possible to create an action plan for the so-called “hydrogen islands”. Mallorca will serve as a model to be replicated in five other island territories (Tenerife in Spain, Madeira in Portugal, Aran in Ireland, Ameland in the Netherlands and the Greek islands) and, in turn, will be part of a network of exchange of experiences within the European initiative “Clean energy for the EU islands”.

Source: Smart Greeds Info