Puertollano green hydrogen plant
Puertollano, a European benchmark in green hydrogen production for industrial use
Iberdrola España has commissioned its largest plant producing green hydrogen for industrial use in Europe. The Puertollano (Spain) plant consists of a 100 MW photovoltaic solar plant, a lithium-ion battery system with a storage capacity of 20 MWh and one of the largest electrolytic hydrogen production systems in the world (20 MW). All from 100 % renewable sources.
Puertollano Green Hydrogen Plant
Puertollano Green Hydrogen Plant: Google Maps location
The largest green hydrogen plant in Europe, promoted by Iberdrola España
With an investment of 150 million euros, the initiative has created up to 1,000 jobs and prevent emissions of 48,000 tCO2/year. The green hydrogen produced there is used at Fertiberia's local ammonia plant.
This is already one of the most efficient factories in the European Union, with a production capacity of more than 200,000 t a year. The fertiliser company is upgrading and modifying it so that it can use the green hydrogen produced and thus manufacture green fertilisers. Thanks to this technology, it will be able to reduce natural gas requirements at the plant by more than 10%, becoming the first European company in the sector to develop a large-scale green ammonia generation project.
Thanks to the work carried out for the development of the plant, we have received the prize for the best Hydrogen Project of the year, awarded by AAE Spain Chapter, during the 4th International Congress of Energy Engineering iENER23, held in Valencia.
A strategic location to drive green hydrogen
The new plant, operational since 2022, was built in the municipality of Puertollano, a privileged location, with an important industrial hub and where the National Hydrogen Centre is located, which it has advised during its construction on. It also contributes to advancing the technological maturity of green hydrogen and make it a solution for efficient decarbonisation in the medium term.
Iberdrola Group, of which Iberdrola España is part, selected the European company Nel Hydrogen Electrolyser — a division of Nel ASA — as its preferred supplier for the construction of the hydrogen production system by electrolysis, which will be based on its Proton PEM® solution.
For its part, the Basque company Elecnor has carried out the electrical installation of the Puertollano plant and supplied materials such as switchboards and electrical cabinets, supports, conduits and light fittings, while Construcciones Electromecánicas Consonni manufactured the medium-voltage equipment at its Bilbao plant.
A 100 MW solar plant with the latest innovations
The solar plant (100 MW), located at the Puertollano green hydrogen plant, has already obtained a positive Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and will have several innovations:
- The installation has bifacial panels, never used before in company projects, which enable greater production since they have two light-sensitive surfaces and provide a longer useful life.
- The plant has been designed with cluster inverters or string inverters, which improve the yield and allow better use of the surface area.
- The plant is equipped with a storage system, which will facilitate plant management. The battery system (with 5 MW of power) has a storage capacity of 20 MWh.
Iberdrola España and Fertiberia plan 830 MW of green hydrogen
The alliance between Iberdrola España and Fertiberia aims to place Spain at the forefront of green hydrogen in Europe and make it a technological benchmark in the production and use of this resource, especially in the field of electrolysis. To this end, both companies have launched a comprehensive project that includes the development of 830 MW of green hydrogen with an investment of 1.8 billion euros until 2027.
The innovation initiative, which will start with the commissioning of the Puertollano complex, could be completed with a plan to multiply the capacity of this first plant by 40 with the development of three other projects between 2023 and 2027, which would be carried out at the Fertiberia plant in this municipality of Ciudad Real and at the Palos de la Frontera plant in Huelva.
The plan would achieve 830 MW of electrolysis, equivalent to 20 % of the national target of 4 GW installed by 2030, and would ensure that around 25 % of the hydrogen currently consumed in Spain would not generate CO2 emissions. The annual production of hydrogen, which is used as a raw material in the refining, chemical and fertiliser industries, is 0.5 Mt H2/year and this generates emissions of 5 Mt CO2/year. Worldwide this figure grows to 830 Mt of CO2/year (more than 2 % of global emissions).
In addition, the initiative, which represents an investment or 1.8 billion euros, would contribute to the development of the entire value chain, creating almost 4,000 skilled jobs through 500 local suppliers.
The project, which is the result of private and public collaboration, is created with the same ambition that the government has shown in its Green Hydrogen Roadmap and would require support from the European Recovery Fund for the implementation of the last three stages. The European Union has launched a strategy to boost green hydrogen: it aims to have 40 GW of green hydrogen electrolysers in just 10 years.
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