Spain’s First Industrial Renewable Hydrogen Plant Opens in Mallorca

(Enagás/NGV Journal) The Third Vice President of the Government of Spain and Minister for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge Teresa Ribera has opened in Lloseta (Mallorca) the first industrial renewable hydrogen plant in Spain, as part of the Power to Green Hydrogen Mallorca project, spearheaded by Enagás and ACCIONA Energía, with the participation of IDAE and CEMEX.

Last December, the plant began start-up tests, generating the first renewable hydrogen molecules and thus positioning itself as the first industrial-scale green hydrogen generation project in Spain.

The industrial production of renewable hydrogen at the plant will be carried out gradually and as the infrastructures and equipment for its consumption are available within the project subsidised by the European Union Green Hysland, of which Power to Green Hydrogen Mallorca is part.

The Green Hysland project, coordinated by Enagás, supports the deployment of the infrastructures required to build a renewable hydrogen ecosystem on the island of Mallorca, and helps to achieve the environmental goals set by the Balearic Government in the islands. The European Union has committed 10 million euros to its implementation through the Clean Hydrogen Joint Undertaking.

This European investment, which is in line with the new EU Hydrogen Strategy and the Spanish Government’s “Hydrogen Roadmap: a commitment to renewable hydrogen”, represents the second largest grant awarded by this organization to a green hydrogen project and the first to a Mediterranean country.

“This pioneering project inaugurates a technological development that will be very relevant in the coming years, to replace gas of fossil origin with renewable gases, such as biogas, biomethane, and hydrogen obtained with renewable energies. Thanks to these advances, which we are promoting with the PERTE ERHA, we will reduce our dependence on hydrocarbon imports, we will offer a solution for the decarbonization of sectors that are difficult to electrify, such as industry or heavy transport, and we will create new companies and new jobs in quality. Now, more than ever, we must activate all the springs to gain energy sovereignty, and renewable energies are going to play a decisive role. And among them, hydrogen constitutes a strategic bet for the country,” said Vice President Ribera.

“Projects such as Green Hysland and its set up in Mallorca demonstrate the importance of coordinating and cooperating to move the decarbonization process forward. Thanks to the 30 entities that are part of the consortium, the entire value chain is represented in the project, which ensures both the deployment of infrastructure for the production of green hydrogen and its end uses,” commented the Chairman of Enagás Antonio Llardén.

Bart Biebuyck, Executive Director of the Clean Hydrogen Joint Undertaking, added: “The project Green Hysland on the island of Mallorca is a perfect example of how hydrogen and fuel cell technology can effectively contribute to the decarbonization of European islands. With our support of 10 million Euro, we are proud to see the first Hydrogen ecosystem in Southern Europe becoming a reality and are convinced that it will serve as a blueprint for similar Hydrogen valleys across Europe”.

As a core part of the project, the electrolyzer that produces renewable hydrogen has already completed technical commissioning tests. Once fully operational when the infrastructure deployment for its consumption is completed, it will produce at least 300 tons of renewable hydrogen per year.

Once the green hydrogen ecosystem in Mallorca is fully implemented, the goal is to reduce the island’s CO2 emissions by up to 21,000 tons per year. Part of the green hydrogen will be transported through the first hydroduct in Spain, which Redexis will build on the island, and can be injected into the natural gas distribution network the company has in Palma de Mallorca, thus contributing to decarbonization of island consumption. The administrative processing phase is currently being completed and the company will be able to start construction in the second quarter of the year.

Green hydrogen will have multiple applications on the island of Mallorca, such as supplying clean fuel to bus fleets, generating heat and electric power for commercial and public buildings, and creating a refueling station.

Other industrial economic sectors, mobility, public and private entities will foreseeably join the use of this renewable energy, strengthening the renewable energy project of Mallorca, as well as the reindustrialization of Lloseta and its surroundings with projects compatible with existing activities.

Mallorca is in an ideal position to develop the first renewable hydrogen hub in Southern Europe, thus becoming the first European example of an island economy based on green hydrogen. READ MORE