(Palos de la Frontera, Spain) – The board of directors of the Spanish energy and chemical company Moeve SA has made the final investment decision for the first construction phase of the "Onuba" project, which will install electrolyzers with a capacity of 300 to 400 megawatts in the "Andalusian Green Hydrogen Valley." The site is located in Palos de la Frontera, near Huelva. The projected annual yield is approximately 45.000 tons of green hydrogen, which will be used both to decarbonize the chemical and fertilizer industries and to be processed into fuels for aviation, road, and shipping.
In January 2023, the three companies Moeve (then still "Cepsa"), Enagás Renovable, and Alter Enersun agreed to build "Onuba," a hydrogen production facility with a 200 MW photovoltaic power plant in Andalusia. The final investment decision has now been made. © Enagás Renovable
The planned investments amount to an estimated one billion euros. This includes the associated infrastructure and photovoltaic systems. Moeve has received 304 million euros for the development of its Andalusian site as part of the Hydrogen Valley program, which the European Commission has designated a Project of Common European Interest (PCI), said Moeve CEO Maarten Wetselaar at the presentation of the 2025 annual report. "This decision puts Moeve at the forefront of providing clean energy solutions to strengthen Europe's industrial competitiveness and energy security."
Moeve, owned by the Abu Dhabi-based fund Mubadala and the US private equity firm Carlyle Group (CG.O.), remains the majority shareholder with 51 percent. The company changed its name from "Cepsa" (Compañía Española de Petróleos SAU) in 2024 and, since 2022, has sold large parts of its oil production and business activities in Abu Dhabi and South America to increasingly focus on sustainable energy and hydrogen.
2 gigawatts of power planned
Also on board as minority shareholders in the Onuba project are now the Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar) and Enalter, a joint venture of Enagás Renovable and the Alter Enersun Group, which is already involved in several Spanish PV and hydrogen projects.
According to information from 2024, Moeve plans to install a green hydrogen production capacity of two gigawatts in southern Spain, with one gigawatt each in Huelva and Cádiz. To generate the renewable energy required for production, a portfolio of seven gigawatts of wind and solar projects is to be developed, as stated at the presentation of initial plans in 2022 ( we reported ).
Green fuels in Morocco
Just at the beginning of February, Moeve announced that the company had been selected by the Moroccan government to develop a large-scale project for the production of green ammonia and eFuels in the south of the country, in partnership with the electricity provider Taqa Morocco SA. Taqa is responsible for generating electricity from renewable energy sources in the Dakhla region, while Moeve will manage the production and marketing of the fuels via the port of Jorf Lasfar. Feasibility studies will be conducted first.
Photo above
Moeve refinery in Huelva, Andalusia. Electrolyzers with a capacity of 300 to 400 megawatts are to be installed in the "Andalusian Green Hydrogen Valley" currently under development there. © Moeve SA
