The Giunta region of Emilia-Romagna has granted 19.5 million euros to the joint Hera and Snam project for the building of a green hydrogen production pole in the town of Modena as part of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR).
According to the terms of the tender, this pole will be built without taking up any usable ground in the abandoned industrial sector of the via Caruso dump in Modena.
In particular, the region will house a 6 MW photovoltaic park connected to an electrolyser, which will produce up to 400 tonnes of hydrogen annually using power from the photovoltaic field. An electrolyser is a device used to extract hydrogen from water through the electrolysis process. A battery for the storage of electricity will complete the pole so that it can power the electrolyser even at night.
The total amount of money earmarked for these operations is 20.8 million euros.
The two businesses will play separate but related roles in building the production hub: Hera SpA will serve as the principal partner, Herambiente will be in charge of building the photovoltaic plant, and Snam will be in charge of building the hydrogen production plant.
The Hera Group and Snam will make a direct contribution to the Emilia-Romagna Region’s carbon neutrality through the implementation of the IdrogeMO project. In fact, it is anticipated that some of the hydrogen produced will be able to supply neighbourhood public transportation systems with green-molecule-fueled vehicles, just as some of the production may be aimed at the neighbourhood industrial sector for the decarbonization of its operations.