Spain - ambitious on green hydrogen production

The Government sees this as the key to achieving climate neutrality in the country

Yesterday, 6 October, the Spanish Council of Ministers approved a document called “Hydrogen Roadmap: a commitment to renewable hydrogen”. The vision described in it is that of a green economy centred around the sustainable production of hydrogen, as a clean fuel source. If carried out correctly this would result in having a fully renewable electricity system in the Iberian country by 2050 as well as the generation of multiple sustainable jobs for its population.

The Hydrogen Roadmap consists of 60 measures

The roadmap document details national objectives, which are in tune with the European Hydrogen Strategy for 2030. If achieved, by that time the country should be able to cut down 4.6 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions and 25% of its hydrogen consumption should be renewable.

Unlike sunlight and wind, hydrogen is not a primary source of energy but is rather considered an energy vector. It is not found anywhere on Earth in pure form, either, so the only ways of extracting it are man-made. One of these ways, known as steam methane reforming (SMR) is industrial, the other one is through electrolysis of water which breaks it into its components – hydrogen and oxygen.

The first of these methods releases CO2 into the atmosphere, whereas the second one if using electricity from renewable source can be considered sustainable – hence the green hydrogen designation.

The hydrogen produced is considered valuable because it is capable of storing energy that can be produced and released at a later stage – think of hydrogen batteries, for example. By 2030, it is expected to have at least 150 hydrogen buses, 5000 vehicles, and 2 train lines operating on the territory of the country. The 5 major ports and airports will have hydrogen charging stations.

The ambition of the Government is to install hydrogen production facilities with a total capacity of 4 gigawatts, which will represent 10% of the total production in Europe, turning renewable energy production into the main focus of the Spanish economy of the future.