Reganosa will conduct trials in Spain of novel technology for the production and storage of green hydrogen (H2).
The Galician energy giant will build a digital tool to assist in the creation of H2 through waste recovery in collaboration with the Technological Institute of Industrial Mathematics (Itmati) and a consortium of prominent firms in the field. This announcement was made this morning by Roco Vega, leader of the Reganosa Digitization department, during a technical symposium on energy transition organized by the Galician Energy Institute (Inega) as part of the Enerxética 2022 fair in Silleda (Pontevedra).
The Zeppelin collaboration will spend 7.89 million euros through the end of 2024 searching for creative, economical, and circular technological solutions for the production and storage of green hydrogen. Along with Reganosa, this group is comprised of leading enterprises operating at various stages of the H2 value chain: Naturgy, Norvento, Perseo, Redexis, Técnicas Reunidas, Repsol, and Aqualia, which serves as the organization’s main member.
Additionally, this alliance includes the Technological Center for Multisectoral Research (Cetim), which serves as the technical office for the project, and seven other highly specialized research organizations: Cidaut, Ciemat, EnergyLab, Imdea Energa, ITQ, the University of Valladolid’s chemical engineering and environmental technology team, and Itmati, a division of the Galician Center for Mathematical Research and Technology (Citmaga).
The consortium’s objectives are to develop a set of novel green hydrogen generation technologies that are alternatives to electrolysis and support the circular economy through the recovery of waste and by-products from several sectors: agriculture, textiles, refineries, and water treatment facilities.
Additionally, new H2 storage materials and modeling tools for the various developed will be developed. All of this is geared toward lowering the energy, economic, and environmental costs involved with current hydrogen production, as well as promoting a safe, efficient, and clean energy source.
At the moment, barely 1% of the H2 produced globally originates from renewable sources. In the case of industrial consumption, the Spanish Hydrogen Roadmap seeks to increase this amount to 25% by 2030. By that time, the green H2 will also be used to power trains, airplanes, and other vehicles, according to the aforementioned text.
Hydrogen production via Zeppelin technologies will provide Spain with an annual circular green H2 generating capacity of around 135,000 tons, which would be sufficient to meet the Hydrogen Roadmap’s ambitions or to power the whole Spanish railway network. Additionally, it will contribute to circular economy strategies and objectives by recovering about 99 million tons of garbage and 50 million tons of municipal wastewater.
Zeppelin will not just bring new technology instruments to the energy and mobility sectors from a socioeconomic standpoint. Additionally, it will boost rural economic activity and qualified jobs. It will do so by repurposing waste from the primary and food sectors as a raw material for the energy sector.
The Zeppelin project is led by a partnership of top Spanish enterprises with significant economic and technological clout across the hydrogen value chain. Aqualia, a global leader in the water industry, will develop dry reforming techniques for excess biogas and dark fermentation, as well as microbial electrolysis from WWTP sludge and wastewater.
Naturgy will conduct research into the generation of syngas via gasification technology and hydrogen separation in order to obtain usable H2. Norvento will investigate dark fermentation and hydrogen purification technologies. Perseo will be responsible for the research and development of wet reforming technologies for the bioethanol produced. Redexis will concentrate on environmentally friendly hydrogen storage processes using ammonia.
Técnicas Reunidas will conduct research on the generation of syngas by dry reforming of biogas and wet reforming of bioethanol, as well as on the optimization of hydrogen production during gasification and on the purification and capture of carbon dioxide. Repsol will make significant advancements in the production of biohydrogen using dark fermentation technology and syngas via bioethanol wet reforming processes.
Reganosa, on the other hand, will serve a dual role in the consortium. On the one hand, they will investigate environmentally sustainable methods for producing new porous polymeric materials for H2 storage. On the other side, they will investigate novel mathematical models linked with the hydrogen production and storage methods used by its consortium partners. They will use this knowledge to construct a reliable tool for testing the processes covered by the Zeppelin umbrella using digital twins.
This tool will identify the characteristics and locations of the ideal waste-to-green hydrogen technologies, taking logistics, costs, and energy footprint into account. Additionally, the amount of H2 and carbon monoxide generated will be determined, as well as the source of production. As a result, it will aid in the effective execution of the advancements that are found.
Reganosa will utilize the knowledge gained over the last years in developing high-value-added digital solutions for the energy sector, such as the already-operational Ganeso, to this task. Zeppelin’s involvement also aligns with the company’s strategic objective of encouraging a green, digital, equitable, and inclusive transition.
Zeppelin has the backing of a number of relevant public and private entities that believe this initiative is vital: the Galician Innovation Agency (Gain), the Port Authority of the Bay of Algeciras, the Algeciras City Council, the Andalusian Energy Agency, the Spanish Biogas Association (Aebig), the Spanish Hydrogen Association (AeH2), the Business Technological Cluster of Life Sciences (Bioga), the Galician Renewable Energy Cluster (Cluergal), Gas (Viratec).
The Center for the Development of Industrial Technology (CDTI) funded this research as part of the Missions, Science, and Innovation Program’s 2021 request for proposals (Recovery, Transformation, and Resilience Plan), with assistance from the Ministry of Science and Innovation. The European Union funded the project’s assistance through the Next Generation EU programme. The European Union is funding the project through the Next Generation EU Fund.
