Fusion Fuel has obtained confirmation from the Portuguese government that it would receive a grant valued at approximately €10 million as part of Component 14 (“C-14”) of the Portuguese Recovery and Resilience Plan to develop its 6.6MW HEVO-Industria green hydrogen plant in Sines, Portugal.
The objective of C-14 is to expedite the energy transition by encouraging the production of hydrogen and other renewable gases.
Commenting on the approval, Pedro Caçorino Dias, Head of Commercial for Portugal said, “This is a tremendous accomplishment for Fusion Fuel, one which further strengthens our partnership with, and commitment to, the country’s growing hydrogen ecosystem. Our €10 million grant was the largest single-project grant awarded in the application. It’s great to see the wheels beginning to turn on these funding programs, which are critical to accelerating the development of the hydrogen economy here in Portugal and making Portugal a leader in the energy transition on the global stage.”
The HEVO-Industria project, which is expected to reach Final Investment Decision in the first half of 2023 and require €25 million in capital investment, consists of 300 HEVO-Solar units, a hydrogen refueling station, and associated balance of plant to support local industry, and will produce an estimated 764 tons of green hydrogen annually.
The facility will be installed with Fusion Fuel’s HEVO-Night solution, which allows HEVO-Solar generators to produce green hydrogen overnight or during periods of low solar irradiation. It is envisaged that the created green hydrogen will be used for transportation and industrial applications in Sines, in addition to being mixed into the city’s natural gas infrastructure.
João Wahnon, Fusion Fuel’s Head of Business Development, added, “We are thrilled to have received this approval for funding support from C-14, which we view as further validation of our novel and disruptive solar-to-hydrogen technology. We continue to be amongst the foremost pioneers of green hydrogen in Portugal and are excited to add the HEVO-Industria project to our existing portfolio of projects in active development in Portugal, with HEVO-Sul in Sines and our two Evora projects.”
Zach Steele, Fusion Fuel Co-Head, said, “HEVO-Industria is one of several projects focused on building out the hydrogen mobility backbone in Iberia, headlined by our Exolum project currently being built in Madrid. Our ability to deploy decentralized, small-scale green hydrogen production commercially and co-locate it with refuelling stations is a meaningful competitive advantage at a time when scale is viewed as the only way to drive down cost. On-site production allows us to avoid last-mile logistics of hydrogen, which can add €1-2/kg to the delivered cost to the end user. We believe this is a winning strategy for us, particularly as governments in Europe and abroad begin to strengthen their commitment to hydrogen mobility.”
