It starts its first production at its Petronor center in Euskadi with a 2.5 MW electrolyzer

BILBAO, Oct. 9 (from EUROPA PRESS special envoy, Francisco J. Baeza) -

Repsol has kicked off the race to be a main player in the promotion of renewable hydrogen in Spain with the first production in its Petronor industrial center (Muskiz, Vizcaya) thanks to a 2.5 megawatt (MW) electrolyser. whose investment has amounted to 11 million euros.

Specifically, this electrolyzer gives the group the capacity to generate 350 tons of green hydrogen per year, for industrial use, mainly in the refinery, as raw material to manufacture products with a lower carbon footprint.

This green hydrogen will also be used for mobility in the logistics platform located in the technology park, for the Living Lab of Hydrogen technologies and as a source of energy for the EIC building.

Thus, it will allow fuel production to be decarbonized in the refinery itself and supply the Abanto Zierbana Technology Park, which becomes the first of its kind in Europe with a continuous supply of renewable hydrogen, through a pipeline deployed by Nortegas.

This new milestone for Repsol on its path towards the goal of being a net zero emissions company by 2050 was launched in an event that was attended by the energy company's CEO, Josu Jon Imaz; as well as the president of Petronor, Emiliano López Atxurra; the president of Kutxabank, Antón Arriola; the Lehendakari, Iñigo Urkullu; the deputy general of Vizcaya; Elixabete Etxanobe, the Minister of Economic Development, Sustainability and Environment, Arantxa Tapia, and the Deputy of Economic Promotion, Ainara Basurko.

Imaz highlighted that the launch of this electrolyzer represents a "day of joy" and a step forward in the group's strategy of being a net zero emissions company by 2050. "This is carried out with projects and technology, and we are to continue along this path and we are going to do it based on the industry," he assured.

"We are here because the industry exists, the industry has allowed us to grow economically, have a welfare society, stable, well-paid jobs. We have to continue on that path and do it in an increasingly sustainable way," he said.

Meanwhile, the Lehendakari, Iñigo Urkullu, made an allegation of the Basque Government's commitment to the industry. "We are facing an energy milestone and it is a step where we make our priority clear, it is an innovative step. Euskadi has always had an advanced and pioneering industry," he added.

Likewise, he pointed out the region's commitment to renewable energies and the promotion of projects through the public-private model. "It is in our hands to open the doors and offer good, well-paid jobs. It is up to us, and if they do not find them here they will leave," he warned.

For his part, López Atxurra considered this milestone as a "bright day", since it is "celebrating the victory of technology and industry on a long path that is decarbonization." However, he defended, as a strategic vision, that "there is no sustainable energy transition without a technological and industrial strategy and without understanding the new geoeconomic and geopolitical environment," he said.

The launch of this electrolyser, supplied by Sener and John Cockerill, represents the first stone on Repsol's path to take a prominent position on the board in the battle for green hydrogen in Spain, where the rest of the large companies in the sector also They are positioning themselves strongly.

And green hydrogen is one of Repsol's strategic pillars on this path of decarbonization of its activities, with an agenda of objectives that will accelerate in the coming years and that will be vital for the development of this vector in the country. both for domestic supply and for export in the future.

Thus, this project will promote the Basque Hydrogen Corridor (BH2C), the initiative promoted by Petronor and Repsol that seeks to accelerate the economic recovery of the Basque Country and Spain as a whole, while advancing decarbonization and promoting sectors. strategic such as energy, mobility, industry and services.

This consortium brings together more than 80 companies, institutions and research centers that participate in different projects and plan to mobilize more than 1.4 billion euros to position the region as an international benchmark in renewable hydrogen.

But this project is nothing more than the first step to promote this strategic commitment, since Petronor will launch a 10 MW electrolyzer in the coming years, whose 'green' hydrogen will supply one of the largest zero synthetic fuel plants in the world. net emissions, and a third 'megaelectrolyzer', in this case of 100 MW, to address Petronor's decarbonization process and feed the needs of the Basque Hydrogen Corridor.

Within this strategy to be a main player in renewable hydrogen, the group led by Josu Jon Imaz also plans an additional electrolyzer in the Cartagena Industrial Complex with a capacity of 100 MW, within the framework of the Region's Green Hydrogen Platform from Murcia around the Escombreras Valley; as well as in Tarragona, 150 MW. Likewise, it will also install electrolyzers in its plants in Puertollano and A Coruña, in both cases with a capacity of 30 MW.

The multi-energy company is already the first producer and the first consumer of hydrogen, although not green, in Spain, with a production in its industrial complexes of about 360,000 tons per year, almost 60% of national demand. The group's plans for green hydrogen include installing a capacity of 557 megawatts (MW) in 2025 and reaching 1.9 gigawatts (GW) in 2030.

The race to be on the board to dominate green hydrogen in Spain includes all the main players in the sector. Thus, Cepsa announced that it will build the largest green ammonia plant in Europe in its San Roque Energy Park (Cádiz), thus accelerating its commitment to green hydrogen with an investment that will amount to 1,000 million euros.

The Andalusian Valley of Green Hydrogen, the largest green hydrogen project presented in Europe - which will have a production capacity of 2 gigawatts (GW) - is Cepsa's great strategic bet, with an investment of 3,000 million euros.

Iberdrola is also another of the 'majors' that is strongly committed to leading the take-off of green hydrogen in the country, with the production of green hydrogen being already a reality for the group at its Puertollano facility, in an alliance with Fertiberia. Likewise, it announced the construction of a green ammonia plant in Huelva that will involve an investment of 750 million euros.