Orfeón, a Spanish company, would spend roughly 38 million euros (ME) in Cantanhede’s Tocha industrial zone to build a logistics platform and a sustainable hydrogen filling station.
Orfeón, which already has a warehouse in Cantanhede, has completed the purchase of two lots totaling 220,000 square meters in the industrial area of Tocha, in the municipality of Cantanhede, district of Coimbra.
“Cantanhede is a crucial location for me because it is located halfway between Lisbon and Porto. The facility will have a logistics platform, a gasoline station, a hydrogen filling station, and a container park, according to Rafael Ribes, the company’s director.
This group comprises enterprises involved in transportation and other energy-related operations, such as logistics and storage chains, who dedicate themselves to the distribution and delivery of commodities.
The company now operates four hydrogen projects in Spain, with the goal of establishing key refueling locations for vehicles around the Iberian Peninsula.
“The plan is to do the same thing in Portugal as in Spain,” Rafael Ribes stated.
Orfeón will construct a logistics center in Torcha, from which hydrogen supply support stations will be established.
“We will have four hydrogen hotspots in Portugal, one north of Porto, one in Cantanhede, one north of Lisbon, and one south of Lisbon,” he stated.
The Orfeón firm hopes to become more competitive in this fashion since a well-connected network of green hydrogen trucks powered by renewable energy will enable competitive pricing in the market.
As a result, they will be able to establish themselves in the market at competitive pricing, as hydrogen allows us to provide a cheaper price than other fuels.
“In Spain, we are diesel wholesalers who also acquire oil boats. We’re already in the business; our goal is to be in the next business, which we’ve been doing for a while,” and to commercialize hydrogen in the future.
The issue with hydrogen trucks, according to Rafael Ribes, is that they are not “built for long distances, and can only drive 400 kilometers,” hence the objective is to build “20 hydrogen points between Spain in three years” [16 stations]. and Portugal [four stations] to assure their supply.”
The Torcha logistics base will be operational in 2023, while the renewable energy hydrogen project will take two to three years.
Over the following two years, the firm expects to hire roughly 350 people in Tocha, in the municipality of Cantanhede.
