CARTAGENA (MURCIA), 24 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) -

Repsol, Enagás Renovable and Engie will build the first renewable hydrogen plant in the Region of Murcia, which will be located in Valle de Escombreras, in Cartagena, according to company sources in a statement.

Tomás Malango, Director of Renewable Fuels and Circular Economy at Repsol, Antón Martínez, CEO of Enagás Renovable, and Daniel Fernández, Director of Public Affairs, Regulation and Corporate Strategy at Engie in Spain, signed an agreement this Monday in Cartagena to continue advancing in the electrolyser project, which will initially have a capacity of 100 MW.

The presentation ceremony was attended by the President of the Regional Government, Fernando López Miras; José Vélez, delegate of the Government in the Region of Murcia; Noelia Arroyo, mayor of Cartagena; the Minister of Business, Employment, Universities and Spokesperson, Valle Miguélez, and Eduardo San Nicolás, president of the Sectorial Association of Green Hydrogen in the Region of Murcia, among others.

The new renewable hydrogen plant, which will be located in the vicinity of the Repsol industrial complex in Cartagena, will involve an investment of around 215 million euros and the generation of around 1,100 jobs in the different phases of construction and start-up, planned by 2025. Next year, progress will be made in the detailed engineering and in the administrative processing of the project with the competent public entities, to start construction in 2024.

This project represents a new opportunity to generate social and economic development in the Region of Murcia by generating quality employment and promoting the industrial fabric and digital transformation.

Renewable hydrogen is an energy vector that comes from renewable sources and with zero CO2 emissions. It is used in industry, transport, for domestic use and for the generation of electrical energy.

One of the most widely used technologies, and one that will be used in the Cartagena project, is water electrolysis, which consists of separating the water molecule into hydrogen and oxygen through the application of electrical energy, which in this case will be 100% renewable.

Part of the renewable hydrogen produced at the new facilities will be used to decarbonize various industries in the Escombreras Valley, including the Repsol refinery. The renewable oxygen will also be used by Repsol and by other industries in the Escombreras Valley in their processes.

In addition, the construction of a collector to the Enagás liquefied natural gas terminal is planned to enable the injection of renewable hydrogen. For its part, Engie will use it for heat uses in its industrial processes.

Last September, the European Commission described this project as 'Strategic and of Common European Interest', after approving the mobilization of 5,200 million euros of public funding from thirteen Member States to promote research, large-scale industrial deployment and construction of infrastructures for the entire renewable hydrogen value chain. This program, called IPCEI Hy2Use, also hopes to encourage private investment worth another 7,000 million euros.

The Cartagena electrolyser will help to achieve the objective already announced by Repsol of reaching 552 MW of installed capacity to produce renewable hydrogen in 2025 and 1.9 GW in 2030, almost 50% of the commitment made by the Spanish Government and in line with the European decarbonisation strategy to reduce dependence on imported hydrocarbons.

Likewise, the production of this renewable hydrogen will mean a reduction in the consumption of natural gas used by industry, which will also contribute to achieving the objective set by the European Commission within the RePower EU strategy of reducing dependence on foreign supplies. energetic.

Spain is in a privileged position compared to other countries to capture the opportunity generated by the new renewable hydrogen economy thanks to the availability of sun and wind and, therefore, the generation of electricity from photovoltaic and wind sources, as well as the industry's ability to adapt to a new economy around the hydrogen value chain.

This initiative is also part of SHyrius, a demonstration project of the renewable hydrogen value chain in the Region of Murcia promoted by a local consortium made up of 14 partners, the majority belonging to the Green Hydrogen Sector Association in the Region.

Repsol is the main producer and consumer of hydrogen in Spain. The multienergy has an ambitious roadmap to lead the renewable hydrogen market in the Iberian Peninsula and play a leading role, with investments of more than 2,500 million euros in projects throughout the hydrogen value chain until 2030.

Repsol will use all available technologies to achieve its objectives: electrolysis, production from biogas and photoelectrocatalysis, a technology that it is developing together with its partner Enagás in Puertollano.

Repsol's industrial complexes are being transformed into multi-energy hubs capable of manufacturing products with a low, zero or even negative carbon footprint. Renewable hydrogen is one of the fundamental pillars in this transformation, with the goal that the company will be net zero emissions in 2050.

For its part, Enagás Renovable has a portfolio of more than 50 specific projects in Spain in the field of renewable gases and decarbonisation, which represents one of the largest European platforms for renewable gas projects. The company is 60% owned by Enagás, Hy24 _a joint venture formed by Ardian and FiveT Hydrogen_, Pontegadea and Navantia.

The president of the Community, Fernando López Miras, has stated that the new renewable hydrogen plant to be built in Cartagena thanks to a private investment of 215 million euros "will create more than a thousand jobs and make us a European benchmark in alternative energy".

"This is a project that the European Union has identified as strategic for national and European interests", recalled the head of the regional Executive, who added that "in Cartagena we have one of the most important energy poles in Europe, and I am convinced that this project will exert a tractor effect and will attract new investments for the Region".

López Miras has valued the activation in 2021 of the Green Hydrogen Strategy of the Region, hand in hand with the Community, companies, technology centers, UPCT, Port Authority and City Council. "We were already convinced that this source of energy could be the key to promoting the sustainable transformation of the energy model, and also of our own productive fabric", he highlighted.

For the president of the Community, the Region of Murcia "has the natural potential to become a scalable 'hub' for the production and use of renewable hydrogen in industry" to become "the sustainable industrial energy pole of the 21st century that Europe needs ".

For her part, the mayor, Noelia Arroyo, has indicated that "the success of this commitment requires the sum of research, investment and time", and has emphasized that with this project "the strategic value of Escombreras grows and the attractiveness of of the municipality for industrial investment".