Endesa to develop 23 renewable hydrogen projects in Spain

LONDON (ICIS)–Spanish utility Endesa has submitted a letter of interest to the ecological transition ministry to develop 23 renewable hydrogen projects in Spain, involving 340MW of electrolyser capacity fed with an additional 2GW renewable power capacity, the company said on 1 February.

Endesa’s development of new renewable capacity is likely to bring the cost of green hydrogen production down in the coming years.

In mainland Spain, Endesa is seeking to develop at least eight separate renewable hydrogen projects that will total 315MW of electrolyser capacity and 1.8GW of renewable capacity. The company will invest €2bn for these projects.

The most advanced of these projects is expected to be developed in As Pontes – within the location of Endesa’s coal-fired power plant in the Galicia region. The As Pontes project will have a 100MW electrolyser and six associated wind farms amounting to 611MW.

Total investment for this project will reach €738m, with the operation of the complex able to produce 10,000 tonnes of green hydrogen, the announcement said.

Last month Endesa announced it was going ahead with the closure of its 1.4GW As Pontes coal plant following a report highlighting the environmental, technical and economic infeasibility of biofuel tests.

Another key mainland project will be located in Huelva, southern Spain. Endesa will develop a 100MW electrolyser fed by 430MW of solar PV capacity.

No clear timeline for these projects was announced, although Endesa said the construction of the electrolyser in As Pontes would take approximately two years to develop.

Endesa also plans to develop renewable hydrogen projects in the Canary Islands and the Balearic Islands which will equal to 25MW of electrolysers and 59.5MW of renewable capacity.

Last year, the Spanish government approved the hydrogen roadmap targeting 4GW of installed electrolysis power capacity by 2030.

The roadmap also sets an intermediate goal of installing 300-600MW of power from renewable hydrogen electrolysers by 2024, supporting the European Commission’s ambition for 6GW of capacity by the same year.

ICIS Power Horizon modelling forecasts renewables to account for 70% of total installed capacity in Spain by 2027. This is expected to rise to 75% of the total share by the end of the decade.