The European Investment Bank (EIB), the Instituto de Crédito Oficial (ICO), and Iberdrola have announced a partnership to help the economy decarbonize by producing green hydrogen for industrial use, thereby enhancing EU energy security.
Iberdrola will receive €53 million from the EIB and €35 million from ICO for this purpose, with both loans certified as green financing. The funds will be used to build one of Europe’s largest photovoltaic plants, a 20 MWh battery, and a green hydrogen production plant in Puertollano (Ciudad Real), Castilla-La Mancha (Spain). This is the first time the two organizations have partnered to develop green hydrogen.
Green hydrogen will be able to replace grey hydrogen made with natural gas in the fertiliser industry near the plant.
The project will generate green hydrogen and renewable electricity. Thanks to your efforts, Castilla-La Mancha is on its way to a long-term economic recovery and job creation. During the construction phase, an estimated 300 jobs will be created, and the new plant will generate around 160 GWh of electricity per year, which is equivalent to the annual power consumption of 48 000 Spanish households. The electrolyser will have the capacity to produce 1000 tonnes of green hydrogen per year.
EIB Vice-President Ricardo Mourinho Félix said: “As the EU climate bank, the EIB is continuing to back the construction of sustainable infrastructure in Europe to promote the transition to net-zero emissions. Due in particular to the high energy and gas prices in Europe, at the EIB we firmly believe that hydrogen has the potential to play a key role in European energy security.”
ICO Chairman José Carlos García de Quevedo stressed that this new operation “is among the actions being taken by ICO to roll out its Sustainability Policy, promoting joint public-private sector projects that generate positive social and environmental impact. The Puertollano hydrogen plant clearly meets these two objectives, as it will help create jobs in the region and boost the environmental translation, one of the strategic goals of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan.”
During the signing ceremony, Iberdrola CEO Ignacio Galán explained that “”With this new agreement, we continue to make progress in green hydrogen, which is essential for sectors that are difficult to electrify. Thanks to the fact that this energy vector creates industry and jobs in our country, it has been identified as one of the recipients of the Next Generation EU, which is essential to accelerate its technological development and turn it into a mass energy solution”. The financing signed with the EIB and ICO is in line with “Iberdrola’s commitment to a sustainable energy model that will enable it to continue leading the transition to a low-carbon economy.”
