Spain – Iberdrola is planning the Y Basque Green Hydrogen Initiative: a corridor that entails building three hydrogen generation plants in the logistical centres of Vitoria/Júndiz, Bilbao and Pasaia.
The plants will facilitate the decarbonization of heavy road transport, buses and light industrial vehicles, as well as for port and airport use in the region and in the chemical industry.
Project for public use
The project, which will be for public use, will be modular and expandable, will involve an investment of more than €37 million and include the construction of electrolysers with a 10-MW capacity, to produce a total of 4,000 kg/day of green hydrogen, as well as on-site photovoltaic plants for self-consumption which, added to the renewable energy supplied by Iberdrola, will allow these facilities to supply 100% renewable, emission-free energy.
The initiative also envisages the incorporation of energy storage equipment, in the form of smart batteries, to accumulate the surplus photovoltaic production not consumed by the plants, in order to feed it into the grid or use it for hydrogen production at optimal times.
Institutional support
The project has been submitted to the EU Next Generation programme and has the institutional support of the Basque Government, the Provincial Councils of Araba, Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa and Vitoria-Gasteiz City Council, as well as the ports of Bilbao and Pasaia. It is also supported by Basque businesses or those operating in the Basque Country, such as Acotral, Aena, Alsa, Avanza, CAF, Disfrimur, Irizar, Lascaray, MFS, PepsiCo, Primafrío, Solaris, Tecniruta, Transportes Mazo, 686 Transportes Logísticos y Portuarios and Transportes Saavedra.
Creating jobs
The project should generate 1,700 direct and indirect jobs during its construction and operation, as well as contracting services and purchases from more than 30 local suppliers.
To develop the project, Iberdrola has collaborated with a group of 30 Basque companies, which will take part in this initiative in their different specialist areas. The supplier value chain includes the following companies: ABC Compresores, Ampo, Arteche, Babcock Valves, Bético, Boslan, Calderería Mañez, Consonni, EIA Ingeniería Soluciones, Elecnor, Emica, Goizea, Hidroambiente (grupo Elecnor), Idom, Indar, Inecosa, Ingeteam, Iointek, Jema, Ksb, Mesa, Ormazabal, Pine, Schneider Electric, Tambora, Tamoin, TMC, Torralval, Tubos Reunidos and ZIV.
The project will join those presented by Iberdrola in Zaragoza and the Mediterranean Corridor, and the one being operated by the company in Zona Franca de Barcelona (Free Zone), where it will install and exploit a hydrogen plant for ten years to fuel buses run by Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona (TMB) and other fleets and industries on the industrial estate.
