Spain continues to take major steps towards the decarbonisation of the economy and towards achieving climate neutrality, which it has committed to achieving by 2050. To achieve that, the increase in photovoltaic and wind energies – which continue growing in terms of investment and innovative installations – are now joined by another clean energy for which Spain has all the right ingredients to place itself at the vanguard: green hydrogen.

This is a zero emissions energy, key for the energy transition, since it allows renewables to be integrated on a large scale in an efficient fashion, energy to be distributed between sectors and regions and the decarbonisation of sectors that are intensive in emissions, such as transport, industry, electricity production and buildings. In addition, due to its storage capacity of energy on a large scale for long periods of time, green hydrogen allows the imbalances between energy production and consumption to be moderated. 

In addition to the economic and employment boost that may be generated by this type of renewable energy, the energy targets that Spain has set require major technological development to make them possible, and hence an important window of opportunity opens up in the export of this technology and the chance to become a global benchmark. In other words, Spain could become the European hub for renewable hydrogen. Let’s not forget that the ecological transition as a whole will attract more than 200 billion euros in investment over the next 10 years, creating between 250,000 and 350,000 net jobs per annum

Hydrogen is the most abundant natural chemical element – a source of clean energy that only emits water vapour and leaves no waste in the air, unlike coal and oil. Green or renewable hydrogen is produced through a chemical process known as electrolysis, a method that uses an electricity current to separate hydrogen from the oxygen in water. In other words, water is transformed into gas molecules of hydrogen and of oxygen. Accordingly, if this electricity can be obtained from renewable sources, then we can produce more energy without emitting carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Hence, it is not a primary source of energy, as are the sun or the wind, but an energy vector; that is, a manufactured product capable of storing energy and gradually releasing it.

This method of obtaining green hydrogen, according to the International Energy Agency, would save the emission of 830 annual tonnes of CO2 which are originated when this gas is produced through fossil fuels – known as grey hydrogen – the demand for which has tripled since the 1970s. Replacing all the world’s grey hydrogen would amount to an additional energy production per annum equivalent to Europe’s current electricity demand. In other words, far more energy and without polluting emissions.

​Spain, with the ideal conditions, resources and human capital to produce this energy, is already working to place itself at the vanguard in green hydrogen. The approval of the Hydrogen Roadmap back in October, upon a proposal from the Ministry for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge (Spanish acronym: MITECO), is a firm step in the planning of the rollout of this sustainable energy vector. This is a document whose development is provided for in the Integrated Energy and Climate Plan (Spanish acronym: PNIEC) 2021-2030, which includes 60 measures and sets national targets for 2030 aligned with the European Hydrogen Strategy. Among others, these include reaching 4 gigawatts (GW) of installed power in electrolysers, at least 25% of hydrogen consumption by industry that must be renewable and the extension of this clean energy to transport. Targets which seek to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases by 4.6 million equivalent tonnes of CO2. 

In addition, the Roadmap anticipates a vision of the role of hydrogen over the next three decades, in which Spain seeks to head up a country project towards a decarbonised economy, which activates the development of value chains with new job opportunities and other components related to green hydrogen and continues to speed up the rollout of renewable energies in our country, such as offshore wind energy and marine energies.

The European Union, in turn, aware that green hydrogen is the fuel of the future, aspires to channel up to 500 billion euros into the necessary infrastructures and technologies to achieve climate neutrality by 2050, as contained in its Hydrogen Strategy. This huge investment would lead to a business valued at 630 billion euros per annum and could create up to 5.4 million Jobs in the EU.

If 2020 has been the year in which green hydrogen has come to the forefront of the energy transition, 2021 will be the year of the start of the business race to develop an increasingly more sustainable energy mix. Iberdrola, Naturgy and Repsol head up some of the major green hydrogen projects in Spain.

Iberdrola, in an alliance with Fertiberia, has set up what would become one of the largest green hydrogen plants for industrial use in Europe, which will become operational this year. This has been built in Puertollano (Ciudad Real), where the National Hydrogen Centre is located, and will be made up of a 100 MW photovoltaic solar plant, a system of lithium-ion batteries with a storage capacity of 29 MWh and one of the largest systems of hydrogen production through electrolysis in the world (20 MW). All based on 100% renewable energy sources. With an investment of 150 million euros, it will create up to 700 jobs and prevent the emission of 39,000 tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere each year. The construction of this complex is just the start of an ambitious comprehensive plan whereby Iberdrola, in alliance with Fertiberia, is planning to achieve 800 MW of green hydrogen, which will produce 15,000 tonnes of renewable green hydrogen. This macro-project, which will make Spain an industrial leader in this sector, will receive a 1.8-billion euro investment from now to 2027 and it is hoped that it will generate some 4,000 skilled jobs through 500 local suppliers in the value chain. Alliances are also planned, such as the one agreed with the Norwegian company Nel, to develop large-scale electrolysers.

For its part, Repsol plans to make investments of between 2.2 and 2.9 billion euros from now to 2026, related to a substantial number of projects in the hydrogen chain. It thus aspires to becoming a leader in renewable hydrogen in the Iberian Peninsula by achieving production equivalent to 400 MW by the year 2025, and aims to exceed production of 1.2 GW by 2030. Among others, Repsol is participating in a pioneering project to obtain green hydrogen and ammonia based on floating photovoltaic solar energy in Santander. Headed up by the Cantabria offshore energies cluster, this has a budget of 4.5 million euros and will be ready by 2023. The installations in Santander Port will be known as the ‘H2 Offshore Bay’. The Spanish company is also participating, together with a consortium made up of other large companies in the energy sector, in a pioneering project in Norway that uses wind energy to extract green hydrogen from sea water, known as ‘Deep Purple’.

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Lastly, at the end of December, Naturgy and Enagás announced the construction project of the largest green hydrogen plant in Spain. The plant in La Robla (Leon) will produce up to 9,000 tonnes a year of renewable hydrogen through a 400 MW photovoltaic plant and an electrolyser of up to 60 MW. The installations will be located on the site of the thermal plant that the company closed in summer. Its renewable production will have several purposes – local consumption, injection to the gas network and exports to northwest Europe. Naturgy also plans to create a new green hydrogen plant in Meirama, Cerceda (A Coruña), revitalising the site of its thermal power station, and is already working with EnergyLab and EdarBens on a Mixed Unit of Renewable Gas project to boost the R&D+i of renewable gas. It has also presented some 100 renewable energy projects, including ones focused on green hydrogen, which could be developed with EU funding.