Danish energy fund to lead massive
green hydrogen project in Spain, powered by wind and solar
- Firms will work together on
Catalina Phase I, which will be made up of 1.7 gigawatts
of wind and solar in Aragon, north east Spain, and a 500
megawatt electrolyzer.
- Project Catalina will
eventually look to develop a total of 5 GW of combined
wind and solar, producing green hydrogen using a 2 GW
electrolyzer.
- Hydrogen has a diverse range
of applications and can be deployed in a wide range of
industries.
- Firms will work together on Catalina Phase I, which
will be made up of 1.7 gigawatts of wind and solar in
Aragon, north east Spain, and a 500 megawatt electrolyzer.
- Project Catalina will eventually look to develop a
total of 5 GW of combined wind and solar, producing green
hydrogen using a 2 GW electrolyzer.
- Hydrogen has a diverse range of applications and can
be deployed in a wide range of industries.
![](images/images_02_04_2022/pic2.jpeg)
Wind turbines photographed in Aragon, Spain.
Pepe Romeo Getty Images
Plans for a huge project aiming to produce
green hydrogen and ammonia have been announced, with those behind it
hoping construction of the first phase will begin in late 2023.
On Tuesday, Copenhagen Infrastructure
Partners announced details of a partnership with Spanish companies
Naturgy, Enagás and Fertiberia. Vestas, the Danish wind turbine
manufacturer, is also involved.
The firms will work together on
Catalina Phase I, which will be made up of 1.7 gigawatts of wind and
solar in Aragon, northeast Spain, and a 500-megawatt electrolyzer
able to generate more than 40,000 tons of green hydrogen annually.
A pipeline will link Aragon with
Valencia in the east of Spain, sending the hydrogen to a green
ammonia facility. CIP said this ammonia would then be “upgraded”
into fertilizer.
Project Catalina will eventually look
to develop a total of 5 GW of combined wind and solar, producing
green hydrogen using a 2 GW electrolyzer.
The scale of the overall development is
considerable. “Once fully implemented, Catalina will produce enough
green hydrogen to supply 30% of Spain’s current hydrogen demand,”
CIP said.
Details relating to the financing of
the initiative have not been revealed. CIP did say, however, that
Project Catalina would make what it called a “significant
contribution” to Spain’s Recovery, Transformation and Resilience
Plan, or PERTE, on renewable energy, renewable hydrogen and storage.
In Dec. 2021, the Spanish government
said PERTE would mobilize resources amounting to 16.37 billion
euros, around $18.54 billion. According to authorities there, the
private sector will supply 9.45 billion euros, with 6.92 billion
euros coming from Spain’s Recovery, Transformation and Resilience
Plan.
Hydrogen has a diverse range of
applications and can be deployed in a wide range of industries. It
can be produced in a number of ways. One method includes using
electrolysis, with an electric current splitting water into oxygen
and hydrogen.If the electricity
used in this process comes from a renewable source such as wind or
solar then some call it green or renewable hydrogen.
Over the past few years, a number of
firms have undertaken projects related to green hydrogen. Just last
week, energy major
Shell
said a 20 megawatt hydrogen electrolyzer
described as “one of the world’s largest” had begun operations.
In Dec. 2021,
Iberdrola and H2 Green Steel said they would partner and develop
a 2.3 billion euro project centered around a green hydrogen facility
with
an electrolysis capacity of 1 gigawatt.
While there is excitement in some
quarters about green hydrogen’s potential, the vast majority of
hydrogen generation is currently based on fossil fuels.
In recent times, some business leaders
have spoken of the issues they felt were facing the emerging green
hydrogen sector. Last October, for example, the CEO of
Siemens
Energy told CNBC there was
“no commercial case” for it at this moment in time.
And in July 2021, a briefing from the
World Energy Council said low-carbon hydrogen was not currently
“cost-competitive with other energy supplies in most applications
and locations.” It added that the situation was unlikely to change
unless there was “significant support to bridge the price gap.”
The analysis — which was put together
in collaboration with PwC and the U.S. Electric Power Research
Institute — raised the question of where funding for such support
would come from, but also pointed to the increasing profile of the
sector and the positive effect this could have.
For its part, the European Commission
has laid out plans to install 40 GW of renewable hydrogen
electrolyzer capacity in the European Union by the year 2030.
Green Play Ammonia™, Yielder® NFuel Energy.
Spokane, Washington. 99212
www.exactrix.com
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