Repsol to build its 1st large-scale renewable hydrogen plant in Cartagena, Spain

Photo: Repsol

Repsol announced recently that it continues to make solid progress in its strategic plan and has given the green light to its first large electrolyzer, with 100 megawatts (MW) of capacity, at the company’s industrial complex in Cartagena in eastern Spain.

The facility will be able to produce up to 15,000 tons of renewable hydrogen per year, which the company will use as feedstock to manufacture essential products with a lower-carbon footprint, marking a significant step forward in its roadmap to replace conventional hydrogen with renewable hydrogen at its industrial sites.

The project has been recognized by the European Commission and the government of Spain as strategic and of common European interest (IPCEI) and will receive 155-million euros (USD$179.5 million) through the Spanish Institute for the Diversification and Saving of Energy (IDAE).

Given its scale, the development of this electrolyzer represents a technological challenge led by Repsol, in collaboration with Enagas Renovable, which holds a 25 percent stake in the project.

With an investment of over 300-million euros (USD$347.4 million), it will generate around 900 jobs—direct, indirect and induced— through the different phases of the project.

The electrolyzer alone will avoid the emission of up to 167,000 tons of CO2 per year, an impact equivalent to two-thirds of the entire fleet of pure electric vehicles in Spain in 2024.

The plant is expected to be operational in 2029, representing a milestone for the Hydrogen Valley of the Region of Murcia, one of Spain’s most important regional initiatives.

The goal is to create the most efficient ecosystem possible, aligning production capacity with the needs of industry.

The project also includes the possibility that, in the future, the renewable hydrogen can be fed into the natural-gas network and the Spanish Hydrogen Backbone.

Repsol is the largest producer and consumer of hydrogen on the Iberian Peninsula, concentrating 60 percent of national production and accounting for 4 percent of the hydrogen consumed in Europe.

Currently, the company can produce around 360,000 tons of hydrogen per year at its industrial complexes.

For its part, Enagás Renovable operates as an independent energy producer specializing in renewable gases and decarbonization initiatives.

Its current portfolio in Spain includes 20 projects under development, focused on renewable hydrogen and biomethane.