Spain is in the “best conditions” for becoming Europe’s green hydrogen hub, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said on Monday.
US engine manufacturer Cummins announced in Toledo it will build a factory in Spain to make electrolyser systems. These systems produce green hydrogen, a carbon-free fuel made using renewable energy instead of fossil fuels. The Spanish President, president of Castilla-La Mancha, and the ministers of Ecological Transition and Industry attended by the announcement.
Investment of €50million
The project is partly funded by Cummins, with an initial investment of €50million, and the Spanish electricity company Iberdrola. The plant will be built in Guadalajara, a city northeast of the capital, Madrid. It is expected to start producing green fuel in 2023. In addition to producing 500 MW of hydrogen per year, it will create 350 jobs in the area.
The agreement aims to develop projects in Spain and Portugal and promote the green hydrogen value chain. This would make Spain a technological and industrial leader in this business segment. In addition, the alliance contributes to the positioning of Cummins as a supplier of electrolyser systems for large-scale projects in these two countries. Furthermore, Iberdrola’s position as a developer of electrolysis projects and hydrogen supplier to industrial customers improves.
A “green and sustainable Spain, respecting the environment and biodiversity, represents a huge leap and opportunities” for development and employment in our country, Sánchez said.
Recovery plan to invest in green hydrogen sector
More than €1.5 billion of Spain’s €70 billion recovery plan will be invested in the green hydrogen sector over the next 3 years, Sánchez said. The technology will also encourage investors to invest up to €8.9 billion between now and 2030, he added.
Estimates put hydrogen as the fuel used in a third of land transport and 60% of maritime transport by 2050. Every kilogram of green hydrogen which replaces a fossil fuel will eliminate the emission of 9 kilograms of CO2 into the atmosphere, the prime minister emphasised.
Spain is aiming for 74% of renewable electricity generation and 42% of renewable energy use by 2030, and full decarbonisation by 2050, he added.
