Repsol has today taken a step forward in the business race in Spain to develop renewable hydrogen infrastructure with which to decarbonize the industry. The company has inaugurated its first electrolyzer in Bilbao, at the Petronor refinery, with which it launches a plan to launch six other projects of this type, including one, in Tarragona, destined to become the largest in Spain.
The production of green hydrogen is carried out through an electrolysis process, in which water molecules are separated into oxygen and hydrogen by injecting electricity from renewable sources. The new electrolyzer has 2.5 megawatts (MW) of power and will produce about 350 tons of hydrogen per year.
The production will be destined for the Petronor facilities and also for some hydrofilling stations located in the Abanto Zierbana technology park, where buses and heavy vehicles powered by hydrogen are refueled. To this end, Nortegas has built a hydroduct between Petronor and the technology park.
"We have to decarbonize the industry and hydrogen is part of the industrial transformation," signed the CEO of Repsol, Josu Jon Imaz, during the inauguration of the electrolyzer.
"Our objective is to produce decarbonized fuel for industry, maritime, air, rail and heavy transport," said the president of Petronor, Emiliano López Atxurra, in the presentation of the electrolyzer. "Without European technological cooperation, we are at the service of other economic and political geographies," he warned.
Repsol is the leading producer and consumer of hydrogen in Spain. 360,000 tons currently come out of its plants, equivalent to 60% of national demand, which is why its decarbonization plans are key for the industry.
It plans to launch two other electrolyzers in Petronor, of 10 and 100 MW, in addition to one in Cartagena of 100 MW and another in Tarragona of 150 MW, which will be the largest in Spain. It will also install 30 MW machines in Puertollano and A Coruña.
The company is running some of Spain's hydrogen clusters, including the Hydrogen Valley of Catalonia and those of Murcia and Castilla-La Mancha. In the case of Bilbao, the port of this city has signed an agreement with that of Rotterdam to open a green hydrogen maritime corridor.
Cepsa, Iberdrola and Naturgy are also betting heavily with their own hydrogen projects, in which the gas pipeline operator Enagás is also working, which aspires to put into service a national network of hydroducts and the connection between Barcelona and Marseille.
Cepsa plans to invest 3,000 million euros in the Hydrogen Valley in Andalusia, Naturgy has announced a 485 million hydrogen project in León and Iberdrola has become the leading producer of hydrogen thanks to its agreement with Fertiberia.
During his speech at the presentation of the electrolyzer, Jon Imaz assured that the "ideological closure" of the EU is making it lose the technological battle for decarbonization against the United States.
The manager indicated that there are activities such as air, maritime and heavy transport that cannot be electrified and that renewable fuels such as hydrogen are called to play a key role in this area.
"While in the United States they are committed to technological neutrality, in Europe we are in prohibition and restriction, discussing the possible ban of the combustion engine in 2035," stated the CEO of Repsol.
"If Europe prohibits it, the investments to make it more efficient will go to the United States and we will lose the technological race because of the ideological closure that wants to restrict the technologies that will help us decarbonize," he added.
