General – Green Hydrogen
Another FID on a 100 MW+ project for green hydrogen production in Europe.
Repsol is investing in a hydrogen plant in Bilbao to make the refinery more sustainable. The Petronor project will produce approximately 15 kton of green hydrogen per year and is part of the Basque Hydrogen Corridor (H2BC) program in the Spanish Basque Country.
The facility will be designed to produce 1.8 tonnes of renewable H2 per hour, generating renewable hydrogen and oxygen for local consumers, and will prevent up to 167,000 tonnes of CO2 being released per year.
Consequently, the project is set to play a significant role in the widespread adoption of renewable hydrogen, making an important impact on environmental, economic and social levels.
The project is located within the Basque Hydrogen Corridor (BH2C), a strategic initiative that aims to establish the Basque Country as a leading player in the production, distribution and utilisation of renewable hydrogen. The BH2C initiative involves various public and private organizations, including companies, research centers, and local administrations, and aims to drive the energy transition and decarbonization of the economy.
The hydrogen produced in the complex will be mainly used for consumption in the Bilbao refinery as a raw material in replacement of part of the conventional hydrogen currently generated and will also transform the sector by reducing dependence on fossils and will contribute to the creation of a new market, activating a virtuous circle of supply and demand growth, which thanks to production scaling, will allow the reduction of costs that will make the use possible in other final uses as well as industrial.
The Petronor project not only represents a significant advancement in the production of renewable hydrogen in Spain but has also been recognized as an Important Project of Common European Interest (IPCEI).
As such, it is slated to receive €160 million in funding from the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility through the Spanish government’s Plan for Recovery, Transformation, and Resilience, which distributes NextGenerationEU funding.
This recognition highlights the relevance of the project for innovation and competitiveness in European industry, as well as its contribution to the climate and energy goals of the European Union.
