Repsol, in alliance with Enagás Renovable—majority-owned by Hy24—will put into operation in Tarragona its third major electrolyzer, of 150 MW, backed by an investment of nearly 400 million euros.
This is the second joint project of both companies after the Cartagena plant, as they have indicated in a statement.
The future plant will have capacity to produce more than 22,000 tonnes per year of renewable hydrogen, which will be destined mainly to the Ecoplanta and to the Tarragona refinery for the manufacture of renewable methanol and other products with a low carbon footprint.
The electrolyzer will enable the creation of around 1,000 direct, indirect, and induced jobs, mostly in the local area, during the different phases of the project.
Thanks to this infrastructure, it is estimated that up to 250,000 tonnes of CO2 per year can be avoided. In addition, the plan includes the option that, in a later phase, renewable hydrogen can be injected both into the natural gas network and into the future Spanish Hydrogen Backbone Network.
Collaboration between the two companies brings together Repsol’s industrial experience and knowledge of the hydrogen market with Enagás Renovable’s specialization in the development of projects for the production of green molecules. Enagás Renovable, which is participated in by Hy24 (80%) and Enagás (20%), is driving in Spain initiatives aimed at decarbonizing industry and heavy transport.
The project, provided with an approximate investment of 400 million euros, has been selected to receive up to 104 million euros in financing, as it is one of the strategic projects included in the state program Valles de Hidrógeno, promoted by the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge within the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan, financed with Next Generation EU funds.
Repsol’s director of renewable hydrogen, Maribel Rodríguez, has said that "this electrolyzer and the Ecoplanta represent an integrated industrial platform that places Tarragona at the center of our transformation".
"Together they will make it possible to incorporate new technologies and capabilities to produce renewable fuels and low carbon footprint products at scale, strengthen the competitiveness of the complex, and contribute to maintaining in Europe an essential, innovative industry prepared for the future," she emphasized.
For his part, the business development and hydrogen operations director of Enagás Renovable, Luis Iglesias, has stated that with Tarragona continuity is given to the alliance with Repsol and its commitment to bringing renewable hydrogen to where industrial demand already exists is reinforced. "It is a project with scale, which adds to the network of industrial hubs that are positioning Spain as a benchmark in green molecules in Southern Europe," he has highlighted.