Spain’s Ministry for Ecological Transition has authorized a €78 million investment for the Green H2 Los Barrios project, advancing one of the country’s flagship renewable hydrogen initiatives in the southern province of Cádiz.
Promoted by Portuguese utility EDP, the project will center around a 100 MW electrolyzer, targeting an annual production capacity of up to 12,000 tonnes of green hydrogen, powered exclusively by wind and solar resources.
The project’s initial phase is scheduled to start by late 2025, with infrastructure to supply hydrogen locally — including to a dedicated refueling station in Palmones, within the strategic Campo de Gibraltar industrial cluster.
Los Barrios is uniquely positioned within the port-industrial ecosystem surrounding Algeciras, one of Europe’s busiest ports. The project’s medium-term development roadmap includes potential expansion to 500 MW, alongside hydrogen-to-ammonia conversion infrastructure, aimed at exporting green fuels via maritime corridors. This would enhance the port of Algeciras’s role as a future anchor point in the emerging trans-Mediterranean hydrogen economy.
Simultaneously, Spain’s government has committed €794 million to seven major hydrogen infrastructure projects nationwide, formally integrated into the European Commission’s IPCEI Hy2Use program — a mechanism supporting cross-border, strategic low-carbon industrial projects.
Collectively dubbed “hydrogen valleys,” these initiatives will see large-scale electrolyzers installed in key industrial and port regions, including Andalusia, Asturias, Castilla-La Mancha, Murcia, and the Basque Country. The combined electrolysis capacity of these hubs is expected to exceed 652 MW, with total investments surpassing €6 billion over their lifecycle.
In addition to green hydrogen production, these valleys are designed to stimulate localized clean fuel ecosystems, integrating transport refueling networks, industrial offtake agreements, and ammonia bunkering infrastructure for maritime export. The strategic clustering of production and end-use applications is intended to lower production costs through economies of scale while reinforcing regional economic resilience.
The acceleration of Spain’s hydrogen program comes amid heightened competition within the EU for hydrogen production leadership. As part of the REPowerEU plan, the bloc targets 10 million tonnes of domestic renewable hydrogen production capacity by 2030. Spain, with its superior solar and wind resources, is positioning itself to capture a disproportionate share of that target.
Moreover, with the second wave of IPCEI Hy2Use-endorsed projects now mobilized, Spain is expected to account for a significant portion of southern Europe’s electrolyzer capacity buildout. According to government data, the seven newly funded hydrogen valleys will mobilize over €1.1 billion in private and public investment in the immediate term, with total project investments projected to exceed €6 billion.
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