The largest green hydrogen production plant for industrial use in Europe is already up and running. It is the pioneer, more will come, and it contributes to objectives where everything is at stake, such as the fight against climate change, reindustrialisation and energy sovereignty.
The recently inaugurated green hydrogen plant in Puertollano is a pioneer. Its zero-emission green H2 is used to manufacture fertilisers, a strategic product for agricultural productivity and food security. But its impact goes much further. It helps to decarbonise the primary sector as well as industrial activities that are difficult to electrify and is the first of a network of strategic plants for the Hydrogen Economy in Spain.
It is rowing in favour of two major national and continental objectives: reindustrialisation in emerging technologies to compensate for excessive delocalisation, and contributing to energy sovereignty through the progressive substitution of imported and increasingly expensive fossil fuels.
AN INDUSTRIAL MILESTONE IN SIX QUESTIONS
Where is it located? The plant occupies 7,000 m2 in Puertollano (Ciudad Real), a city of almost 50,000 inhabitants whose industrial centre includes the National Hydrogen Centre, one of the institutions advising the project.
What is the purpose of the project? To produce zero-emission green H2 and supply it to a Fertiberia factory that uses it as a raw material to produce fertilisers. Generally, natural gas is used for this purpose, so the plant will help reduce its consumption.
How soon? It took just 15 months to build, a record time given the size and complexity of the facility. It is now operational, having been inaugurated on 13 May in the presence of His Majesty King Felipe VI, among other authorities.
How much? An investment of 150 million euros to produce up to 3,000 tonnes of green H2 per year (360 kilos per hour), which will avoid the emission of 78,000 tonnes of CO2 per year, including those corresponding to Fertiberia’s industrial processes.
With whom? It serves as an economic engine and a pull effect. Some 80 local companies have participated in the construction, which has generated some 1,000 jobs, many of them occupied by employees from the area. Iberdrola has also contracted the Basque company Elecnor to install the entire electrical system and Construcciones Electromagnéticas Consonni to supply some electrical equipment manufactured in Bilbao. Iberdrola has also agreed with Nel (Norwegian manufacturer of the electrolysers that produce the green H2) to extend its value chain to Spain, an agreement similar to the one signed with the multinational Cummins, which is already planning an electrolyser mega-factory in Guadalajara.
And then what? Interestingly, one of the most striking features of this unique facility is that it will soon cease to be so because Iberdrola’s plan is much more ambitious. It envisages a total investment of 2 billion euros to reach 830 MW of production by 2027, in new plants such as the one planned to supply Fertiberia in Palos de la Frontera, Huelva. The total initiative could cover 20% of the national target set for 2030, 25% of the hydrogen consumed in the country to be zero emissions, generate some 4,000 jobs (half of them soon, in 2023) and contracts with some 500 local companies.
Another added benefit in the immediate environment: taking advantage of the waste heat from the electrolysis process to use it as heating in homes and buildings in Puertollano and reducing the consumption of fossil fuels.
HOW A PIONEER PLANT WORKS
1. PHOTOVOLTAIC PLANT
It is located just a few kilometres away and generates the renewable energy to produce the green H2. It has 100 MW peak installed capacity and deploys the latest photovoltaic technologies, such as bifacial solar panels that capture energy from both sides and are therefore more productive as well as long-lived. It also uses string inverters (converting direct current to alternating current) that improve performance.
2. BATTERY SYSTEM
An essential element to compensate for the intermittency of solar generation. It stores surplus energy so that it can be supplied at night or when there is no sun and the production of green H2 does not stop. In other words, it allows continuous management over time. The lithium-ion batteries, manufactured by Ingeteam, have a storage capacity of 20 MWh, are housed in water-cooled metal containers and also have power converters for connection to the grid.
3. UNDERGROUND POWER LINE
This line, which connects the solar photovoltaic plant to the hydrogen production plant via the substation, is exclusive to the plant to ensure supply. Its proximity helps to reduce energy losses and environmental impact as, unlike a more distant supply installation, it uses the minimum equipment necessary.
4. SUBSTATION AND DISTRIBUTION NETWORK
The substation receives the electrical energy from the photovoltaic plant or the battery system and distributes it to the green H2 plant. If there is surplus energy, it is channelled to the grid for sale.
5. GREEN H2 PRODUCTION PLANT
This is the central industrial facility that houses the electrolyser, i.e. the device that uses renewable electricity to break down water molecules and separate hydrogen from oxygen. It is one of the largest electrolyser systems in the world, a PEM (proton exchange membrane) type, which is very efficient at adapting to the usual load fluctuations in a photovoltaic plant that generates more or less depending on the weather. Other advantages: it is compact and generates high-purity green H2. It consists of 16 stacks of 1.25 MW, in total 20 MW, making it the largest electrolyser in Europe for industrial use installed so far.
6. H2 TANKS
Storage is a key factor given the physical characteristics of green H2, especially as it is a very light gas. That is why the plant’s 11 tanks are so special: they are designed to guarantee the stability of supply required for fertiliser production, each one accumulating 6,000 kilos of green H2 at 60 bar pressure in a volume of 133 m3 (hence the thickness of their steel walls: 4.5 cm). They are almost 24 m high by 2.8 m in diameter and weigh 77 tonnes each when empty.
H2 GREEN AS FINAL PRODUCT
The green hydrogen is sold as an end product to Fertiberia, one of the largest fertiliser producers in the country. The green hydrogen is transported by pipeline to the vicinity of the Fertiberia fertiliser factory, where it is used to produce green ammonia, the raw material for the production of emission-free fertilisers… For the time being, the Fertiberia plant could reduce the consumption of natural gas used in traditional fertiliser production by up to 10%, making it the first company in the sector to start using green ammonia in its processes.
