Start up for Iberdrola's Puertollano green hydrogen plant

Iberdrola’s green hydrogen plant, the first in Spain and the largest for industrial use in Europe, will supply Fertiberia’s local ammonia plant.

The facility with an investment of €150 million ($158 million) comprises a 20MW proton exchange membrane electrolyser which should produce up to 3,000t of green hydrogen annually with an emission avoidance of 78,000t of CO2 per year and should enable the production of green ammonia.

Green hydrogen results from production from an integrated 100MW solar PV facility and a 20MWh lithium-ion energy storage system. Notably, the plant has bifacial panels which should boost the annual production to around 156,000MWh.

Previously hydrogen for the site was produced with steam methane reforming, the most common form of hydrogen production, which is fossil fuel powered.

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In a speech at the inauguration of the plant, which was conducted by the Spanish king Felipe VI, Iberdrola chairman Ignacio Galán said the plant represents the start of a major plan costing more than €2 billion ($2.1 billion) in partnership to replace imported gas with green hydrogen in the production of ammonia for fertilisers.

Some 40,000t per year of green hydrogen for Fertiberia's consumption are targeted by 2027 with 800MW of production capacity, representing about one-fifth of Spain’s 2030 national target.

“This facility could make Spain a benchmark in the production and development of this new energy vector, which would make a decisive contribution to the decarbonisation of sectors that are difficult to electrify, such as fertilisers, high temperature industry and heavy transport,” a statement reads.

The statement adds that the facility is the largest of its kind for industrial use in Europe and is also the largest plant currently operating in the world, while for its part Fertiberia becomes the first European company in its sector to develop large-scale experience in green ammonia generation.

The project has involved the creation of more than 1,000 jobs and the participation of some 80 local companies.

As an extension, Iberdrola also is promoting the future use of waste heat at the hydrogen plant to create a 100% green heat network in the city of Puertollano about 240km south of Madrid.

Hydrogen project portfolio

Across the group, Iberdrola has a project portfolio that could involve investments of €9 billion ($9.4 billion) producing up to 400,000t of green hydrogen per year by 2030. So far more than 60 projects have been initiated around the world.

Among these is the plant recently started up in Barcelona's Zona Franca, which will supply green hydrogen for public transport and to promote the creation of a green hydrogen hub in one of the country's main industrial areas.

Others include the two largest green hydrogen projects in the UK and both in Scotland. One in Whitelee due to come into operation in 2023 will produce green hydrogen for public transport and the second in Cromarty due in 2024 will support the decarbonisation of the whisky distillery heating process.