Iberdrola and Fertiberia launch renewable hydrogen project for green ammonia generation
Type of post: NEWS.
Iberdrola and Fertiberia have signed an agreement, which will trigger an investment of 150 M€, to construct the largest plant to produce green hydrogen for industrial use in Europe. The Spanish companies are to build the plant in Puertollano and it will be operational in 2021.
Press release: “Iberdrola and Fertiberia launch the largest plant producing green hydrogen for industrial use in Europe”, 24/7/2020.
Related posts: “Air Products, ACWA Power and NEOM to build green ammonia plant in KSA”, 14/7/2020.
Figure 1. Green industrial plant for industrial useIberdrola will be responsible for the production of green hydrogen from 100 % renewable sources. The solution will consist of a 100 MW photovoltaic solar plant, a lithium-ion battery system with a storage capacity of 20 MWh and one of the largest electrolytic hydrogen production systems in the world (20 MW).
The green hydrogen produced will be used at Fertiberia's ammonia plant in Puertollano, which has a production capacity of more than 200,000 tons/year. Fertiberia will revamp the plant to be able to use the green hydrogen produced to manufacture green fertilizers. In this way, Fertiberia will be able to reduce natural gas requirements at the plant by over 10 % and will be the first European company in the sector to develop expertise in large-scale green ammonia generation. By producing ammonia from renewable sources, the company will avoid the emission of CO2 into the atmosphere while reducing dependence on a fossil fuel that must be imported from third countries. The oxygen obtained as a co-product of the electrolysis of water will be used entirely in Fertiberia's nitric acid unit, which also reduces its emissions.
The project will take place in the municipality of Puertollano, in Ciudad Real, a prime location with a large industrial hub near to the National Hydrogen Centre, which has advised from the very beginning of the project. Its development and construction will generate 700 jobs and, once operational, will avoid 39,000 the emission of tons CO2/year (Includes the reduction of emissions from processes at the Fertiberia industrial plant).
Annual hydrogen production in Spain is estimated at 0.5 Mtons H2/year, which is used as a raw material in the refining, chemical and fertilizer industries. Most of it has fossil fuel origin and generates emissions of 5 Mtons CO2/year. Annual global H2 production (70 Mtons) represents CO2 emissions of 830 Mtons/year (over 2 % of emissions generated in the world). It is estimated that decarbonising global hydrogen production through the use of 100 % renewable energy would also increase electricity demand by over 10 %.
