Iberdrola will inaugurate in May the green hydrogen plant in Puertollano (Ciudad Real), the largest for industrial use in Europe.
This new initiative of the electricity company, which has had an investment of 150 million euros, aims to avoid emissions of 48,000 tCO2 per year and take a further step in its energy transition. In addition, this project will supply the ammonia factory that Fertiberia has in the town.
The project of the electricity company presided by José Ignacio Sánchez Galán will be integrated by a 100 MW solar photovoltaic plant, a lithium-ion battery system with a storage capacity of 20 MWh and one of the largest hydrogen production systems by electrolysis in the world (20 MW). All from 100% renewable sources.
In addition, for the first time the company will have bifacial panels that will allow higher production due to their greater sensitivity to light. It will also have a storage system to achieve greater manageability of the plant; in the case of the battery system, it will have a storage capacity of 20 MWh.
The Spanish utility has selected the European company Nel Hydrogen Electrolyser for the construction of the hydrogen production system by electrolysis. It has also counted on the Basque company Elecnor to carry out the electrical assembly of the plant, which will also supply materials such as electrical panels and cabinets, supports, conduits and lighting. It has also contracted Construcciones Electromecánicas Consonni, with which it is already working on the medium voltage equipment at its Bilbao plant.
Alliance with Fertiberia
The alliance between Fertiberia and Iberdrola aims to place Spain at the forefront of green hydrogen in Europe and make it a technological reference in the production and use of this resource. To this end, both companies have launched an integral project that contemplates the development of 830 MW of green hydrogen with an investment of 1,800 million euros until 2027. It will also ensure that 25% of the hydrogen currently consumed in Spain does not generate CO2 emissions.
In this way, Fertiberia will become one of the most efficient factories in the EU, with a production capacity of more than 200,000 t/year, to manufacture green fertilizers, with which it will be able to reduce the need for natural gas in the plant by more than 10%.
Other Iberdrola green hydrogen projects
In its commitment to lead the energy transition, Iberdrola is leading more than 60 projects in eight countries (Spain, United Kingdom, Brazil, United States, among others) to respond to the electrification and decarbonization needs of some sectors.
The group currently has a green hydrogen portfolio that will require an investment of more than 3 billion euros by 20030 for the production of 134,000 tons per year. In addition, the company has submitted 54 proposals to boost this type of renewable energy to the EU’s Next Generation program to reach an annual production of 60,000 tons.
In the United Kingdom, the company will install the country’s largest plant with 20MW, with an investment of 9.4 million pounds (more than 11 million euros), scheduled to come into operation in 2023. In Brazil, they are also promoting a project in the Suape port industrial complex with the aim of converting it into a green hydrogen production center in the future.
On the other hand, it will also carry out more than 20 hydrogen projects in the field of mobility, both in urban transport and in the development of a supply network. The company will install logistics platforms for road transport in 19 logistics hubs, including Zaragoza, Murcia and Valencia for the supply of heavy road transport fleets.
In Barcelona, specifically in the Zona Franca, a hydrogen plant has been put into operation to supply the city’s metropolitan transport buses, the first in Spain to achieve this certification.
