Repsol to install its 2nd 100-megawatt electrolyzer at Petronor refinery in Spain
- Repsol
- 12 minutes ago
- 2 min read
Repsol announced Jan. 26 that it is making further progress in its industrial-decarbonization strategy through renewable hydrogen and will install its second large-scale electrolyzer at its Petronor refinery in Muskiz, close to Bilbao in Northern Spain.
Last September, the company approved the construction in Cartagena of its first large electrolyzer, with a capacity of 100 megawatts (MW).
The new 100 MW infrastructure will require an investment of 292-million euros (USD$348.6 million) for commissioning in 2029.
Recognized by the European Commission as an “important project of common European interest” (IPCEI), it will have the support of the government of Spain and will receive 160-million euros (USD$191.1 million) through NextGenerationEU funds from the Spanish Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan.
The electrolyzer will have the capacity to produce up to 15,000 tons of renewable hydrogen per year, which will mainly be used in processes at the Petronor the refinery itself.
As part of the Basque Hydrogen Corridor, it will also supply renewable gas to the region’s industry, driving its decarbonization with a key contribution, as it will prevent the emission of up to 167,000 tons of CO2 per year, equivalent to the emissions saved by two-thirds of the 100 percent electric vehicle fleet in Spain in 2024.
The project, which represents a first-class technological challenge due to its scale, will generate around 900 direct, indirect and induced jobs throughout its different phases.
In addition, it builds upon advances already achieved at Petronor in the development of renewable hydrogen.
In 2023, its first electrolyzer, with a capacity of 2.5 MW, was put into operation.
The 350 tons of renewable hydrogen produced annually already supply the refinery and the building where Petronor’s offices are located, in the technology park of the town of Abanto Zierbena in the province of Bilbao.
Likewise, in 2024, construction began at the port of Bilbao of a second 10 MW electrolyzer, which will supply the synthetic fuels demonstration plant that Repsol is building together with Aramco, and which is scheduled to start operations in 2026.
Second large electrolyzer
Repsol leads hydrogen production and consumption in the Iberian Peninsula, concentrating 60 percent of national production and contributing 4 percent of European consumption.
In September, Repsol gave the green light to its first large electrolyzer of 100 MW, which will be installed at its Cartagena complex.
The new renewable hydrogen plant will soon be joined by a large electrolyzer in Tarragona, with a capacity of 150 MW.
Like those at the complexes in Cartagena and Petronor, it will mainly supply Repsol’s industrial complex.
It is also expected to provide renewable hydrogen to the future Ecoplanta, which will produce renewable methanol from municipal waste, and to other local industries.
