2023-05-13 11:08:41
More and more States are seeking to decarbonize their economy and adopt all measures to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. And among the technologies developed, that of green hydrogen raises great hopes, particularly in Spain.
Very early on, Spain joined this large-scale movement by gradually abandoning coal and focusing on renewable energies. This country is now embarking on a new stage: the industrial production of green hydrogen.
Fertiberia, a fertilizer manufacturer, launched one of the first industrial experiments with green hydrogen not far from Madrid.
Factory of the Fertiberia group. [Valérie Demon – RTS]
Puertollano, ancient city of the fossil industry
In Puertollano, a former mining town in the region of Castille-la-Mancha which lived on coal and then petrochemicals for a long time, a lot of hydrogen is consumed, and especially gray hydrogen (i.e. hydrogen produced from hydrocarbons, in particular natural gas, also called fossil gas).
The city of Puertollano is therefore a prime location for Fertiberia’s pilot project in the field of green hydrogen, hydrogen produced from a water electrolysis process. The process does not, in principle, require hydrocarbons, but it does require electric current and the electricity supplied is not always green.
Fertiberia has therefore teamed up with the Spanish renewable energy giant, Iberdrola, to produce this light gas in the most environmentally friendly way possible. Electricity is designed with renewable energy: 250,000 photovoltaic panels, installed between oaks and olive trees. This is where the electricity needed to produce green hydrogen will come from.
The field of solar panels, with olive trees in the background. [Valérie Demon – RTS]
An experience to grow
Interviewed this week in La Matinale, Eduardo Gonzalez Ferran, from the communication department of Iberdrola, assures that this first industrial experience is set to grow: “Normally, by 2030, we should supply all our hydrogen in a green way. This will depend on several factors: if we have a good supply of water and more photovoltaic panels to reach the 200 megawatts that we need”.
And to add: “We believe that this learning of the technology is a risk that we can perfectly assume for Iberdrola. This will allow us to have a competitive advantage against competitors to develop this technology more quickly”.
For now, the very short-term goal is to supply 10% green hydrogen to the fertilizer company. A project that would be unthinkable and above all unprofitable without European funds.
From gray to green
Hydrogen itself is not a new gas. Javier Plaza, head of green hydrogen plants at Iberdrola, explains the development: “At the moment they are using gray hydrogen to produce their fertilizers and it is old technology, from the 60s, but it is very contaminating. They use natural gas and extract hydrogen from it, but they also produce carbon dioxide (CO2) and it is a polluting process”.
But in the new factory, none of these problems should arise, giving way to the green transition.
Other advantages
“What does our client Fertiberia do? On the one hand, they want to be ahead of the trends. Their fertilizers are the first link in the food chain and the consumer will demand green products, while European Union standards against contamination are going to be more and more restrictive”, explains Javier Plaza.
Another advantage of green hydrogen, according to the expert from Iberdrola: saving water. “A very important question is the amount of water needed, because we are in a drought. If we compare with gray hydrogen, here we consume half as much water. Which means that when Fertiberia stops using gray hydrogen, we will use half of the remaining water to make green hydrogen.”
The eleven white tanks for storing green hydrogen. [Valérie Demon – RTS]
The green hydrogen is then stored in eleven vertical tanks and then transported by pipes to the fertilizer company a hundred meters away.
And even though green hydrogen costs more than gray hydrogen, Spanish companies are investing in big projects to become less and less dependent on natural gas. A movement that has accelerated since the war in Ukraine.
Radio Subject: Valerie Demon
Adaptation web: Julien Furrer
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