Cepsa has presented this Thursday the startup of what will be the largest green hydrogen project in Spain. It involves the development of two energy parks, one in San Roque (Cádiz) and the other in Palos de la Frontera (Huelva), whose commissioning will involve an investment of 3,000 million euros with a capacity of 2 gigawatts (GW) or another 2,000 million for the development of a portfolio of projects of 3 GW of wind and solar energy, to generate renewable electricity that will be used in the electrolysis process of the plants.
The project was presented at the company's facilities in San Roque by the CEO of Cepsa, Maarten Wetselaar, in an act that was attended by the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, and the President of the Junta de Andalucía, Juanma Moreno.
Baptized as The Andalusian Valley of Green Hydrogen, it will produce 300,000 tons per year, 50% of what is expected to be produced in Spain in 2030, which will promote the decarbonization of its energy parks, in which the company will produce advanced biofuels for aviation (SAF ), maritime and heavy land transport.
With this investment, Cepsa will create 1,000 direct jobs and more than 9,000 indirect ones, in addition to boosting the activity of 400 SMEs and the self-employed, as explained by the company. In addition, the emission of six million tons of CO₂ per year will be avoided,
For Westelaar, Spain, and specifically Andalusia, are called to lead the production of green hydrogen and, within Cepsa's "Positive Motion" strategy with which the company is committed to promoting decarbonization with renewable gases, the Andalusian Hydrogen Valley Verde is "the largest ecosystem" of this product in Europe.
A bet from the energy company, whose main shareholder is the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund, for which Westelaar has requested public collaboration with special emphasis on both the Government and the Junta de Andalucía ensuring "clear legal frameworks, especially over time ", in addition to "a simplified and expedited procedure", as well as "financial aid
The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, has assessed that Cepsa's investment "will help Spain achieve its goal" of becoming "an energy exporting country", thanks to the corridor between the Bay of Algeciras and the port of Rotterdam .
He underlined the Government's "commitment" to the development of green hydrogen, which has led it to allocate 22% of the 6,200 million euros of PERTE public funds dedicated to renewable energies to this area, which will also mobilize an investment of 2,800 euros of private capital.
In fact, he added, there are provisional resolutions for these grants worth 250 million euros, which imply the mobilization of a total investment of 890 million, in 29 projects, nine of them in Andalusia.
For his part, the president of the Junta de Andalucía, Juanma Moreno, has set leadership in the generation and export of green hydrogen in a large industrial hub as one of the strategic objectives for the coming years, for which he indicates that the government The regional government is removing obstacles and working on an "Andalusian alliance" on this source of energy, to be "vanguard" and referents regarding it.
