Renewables Now
A Spain-led international consortium stands to receive a EUR-10-million (USD 11.8m) grant from the European Commission (EC) to implement a green hydrogen project on the island of Mallorca in 2021-2025.
The so-called Green Hysland project was selected by the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH JU), public-private partnership formed by the EC, industrial players and researchers in the field, to start negotiating the grant agreement, the body said.
The project brings together a diverse group of companies, researchers and associations from nine EU countries, Chile and Morocco, with Spanish gas grid operator Enagas SA (BME:ENG) coordinating. Promoters include Spanish renewable energy and infrastructure group Acciona SA (BME:ANA), gas supplier Redexis Gas SA and building materials maker Cemex.
Green Hysland will need a total investment of around EUR 50 million, including costs of renewable power generation and equipment for green hydrogen end uses. Hydrogen will be produced from solar power on Mallorca, with the total output in distribution reaching at least 300 tonnes per year, FCH JU said.
This output will be used to power fuel-cell buses and rental vehicles, ferries and port operations, generate heat and power for commercial and public buildings, feed into a hydrogen refuelling station and the island’s gas pipeline network.
FCH JU expects to replicate experiences from the Green Hysland project on other islands in Spain, Portugal, Ireland, the Netherlands and Greece. Between 2021 and 2025, CO2 emissions in Mallorca could go down by up to 20,700 tonnes per year by the end of the project. At the same time, Green Hysland will help diversify the economy of the tourism-dependent island and create new job opportunities in the green energy space.
Besides the EC, the project is supported by the Spanish ministry of industry, trade and tourism and the ministry for the ecological transition and the government of the Balearic Islands.
