(Bilbao/Spain) – The Spanish energy company Iberdrola SA has launched a “Y Basque Green Hydrogen” initiative, which envisages the construction of three hydrogen production plants in the logistics centers of Vitoria/Júndiz, Bilbao and Pasaia/Donostia. The proceeds will be used to advance the decarbonization of heavy trucks, buses and light industrial vehicles and to facilitate the use of hydrogen in ports and airports in the region as well as in the chemical industry.
Iberdrola, whose headquarters are in Bilbao, Basque, estimates the investments to be more than 37 million euros. The modularly expandable electrolyzers have a capacity of ten megawatts and could produce 4.000 kilograms of green hydrogen per day. The project also includes photovoltaic systems for electricity supply. In addition, energy storage is planned to absorb the solar power that is not currently required by the systems for later use or to feed it into the grid.
The project has been submitted to the EU Next Generation program and is supported by the Basque government, the provincial councils of Araba, Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa and the city council of Vitoria-Gasteiz, as well as the ports of Bilbao and Pasaia. There are also 16 other Basque companies or companies operating in the Basque Country.
According to the head of Iberdrola's hydrogen business, Millán García-Tola, 1.700 direct and indirect jobs will be created during construction and operation. To develop the project, Iberdrola worked with a group of 30 Basque companies active in different segments of the hydrogen value chain, including national and global companies such as Elecnor, Ingeteam and Schneider Electric.
“Y Basque Green Hydrogen” is one of 175 projects that the company says it has either submitted to the EU’s Next Generation Program or that has already been included in the program. These could mobilize investments worth 30 billion euros and involve more than 350 small and medium-sized companies in Spain, creating more than 60.000 jobs. The projects include 53 hydrogen-related initiatives that could trigger investments of 2,5 million euros to achieve an annual production of 60.000 tons.
Iberdrola plans to invest 150 billion euros worldwide over the next decade, half of it by 2025, to triple the capacity of its renewable energy plants. In Spain, investments will amount to 2025 billion euros by 14,3. Renewable energy systems with a capacity of 16.700 megawatts are installed in the country, which will increase to 2025 megawatts by 25.000 with Iberdrola's investment plans. According to company information, the group has invested 20 billion euros in renewable energies over the past 120 years, building up almost 35.000 megawatts of installed capacity.
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Iberdrola's Basque “Y Green Hydrogen” project managers, representatives of the institutions and companies supporting the initiative. / © Iberdrola
