Iberdrola's H2 project in Palos selected as a Major Project of European Interest
Iberdrola's green H2 project included in the Cluster Puerta de Europa has been selected within the 'IPCEI Hy2Use' initiative as a Major Project of European Interest. The 'IPCEI Hy2Use' initiative is a mechanism approved in September 2022 by the European Commission that reserves 5,200 million euros for the development of 35 European projects of the different member states and that in the case of Spain will be articulated through line 4 of the PNRR.
During the second quarter of this year, the Ministry is expected to issue a decision on the grants that will enable the launch of the projects included in the IPCEI call for proposals.
Iberdrola continues to take firm steps towards the creation of the largest green hydrogen hub in Spain, to be located in Huelva. This is a further step forward in relation to Iberdrola's announced intentions to build a large green hydrogen production centre in the Palos de la Frontera chemical industrial hub.
To develop the project, Iberdrola will install in two phases a high-capacity electrolyser 100% powered by renewable energy to produce green hydrogen that can be used, among others, by FERTIBERIA to manufacture green fertilisers at its plant in Palos (Spain). This large-scale electrolyser will be operational, in its first phase, in the last four months of 2025.
In the first phase of the project, a 200MW electrolyser with a production capacity of 23,000 tH2/year will be installed with an investment of 450 million euros. This initiative to build a hydrogen plant will create more than 1,000 jobs in this first phase. In the second phase, a 370 MW electrolyser will be installed with a production capacity of 39,100 tH2/year and an investment of more than 500 million euros.
To guarantee a competitive supply of renewable energy to certify the green hydrogen produced associated with the project, Iberdrola has close to 1,000 megawatts of renewable energy under development in Andalusia, which will ensure a competitive supply for a large-scale project such as this.
Iberdrola's intention is to "develop the value chain of one hundred percent green hydrogen, i.e. without any CO2 emissions, and to concentrate in the industrial hub of Huelva, specifically in the town of Palos de la Frontera, the largest hub in Spain in the production, transformation and consumption of green hydrogen, with the clear objective of decarbonising industry and heavy transport", says Ibán Molina, Iberdrola Spain's director of green hydrogen.
Therefore, in addition to decarbonising industry, the project "will make it possible to design and implement innovative solutions for different forms of land, rail and marine transport using renewable hydrogen, promoting the decarbonisation of heavy mobility and ports in Andalusia", adds Molina.
The project located in the Nuevo Puerto industrial estate next to the outer dock of the port area of Huelva will become a large multimodal node and the Gateway to Europe where hydrogen and its derivatives will be key to the decarbonisation of European industry and the transport sector (especially for the maritime sector) included in the plans of the European Union.
The Puerta de Europa Cluster promoted by Iberdrola has the support of more than 80 companies, with the explicit interest of the Regional Government of Andalusia, as well as the Huelva and Palos de la Frontera City Councils and the Huelva Port Authority.
Iberdrola has joined the Andalusian Green Hydrogen Alliance promoted by the Regional Government of Andalusia, sharing the vision of the opportunity for the development of the hydrogen economy in Andalusia.
The company will contribute to the development of the Alliance especially through its experience in the development of real renewable hydrogen projects, making Iberdrola a global leader in this new energy vector and contributing its leadership in the development of renewable energy and the energy transition, a challenge it undertook 20 years ago and which has made it a world leader in renewables today.
Andalusia is one of Iberdrola's major growth poles in Spain. With an installed renewable capacity of around 850 MW, the company is already the region's leading wind power developer and is present in seven of its eight provinces.
In addition, the company has nearly 200 MW more under construction, corresponding to the Guillena project, consisting of three photovoltaic plants (Poleo, Cornicabra and Espliego), in the Seville municipality of Castiblanco de los Arroyos, and the Cespedera plant in Medina Sidonia (Cádiz).
Iberdrola expects to reach 3,000 MW of renewable energy in the coming years, a plan that represents an investment of around 1,500 million euros and will create 5,500 new jobs in Andalusia in installation and assembly alone.
