Naturgy and Enagás Renovable present the future renewable hydrogen plant in La Robla
Naturgy and Enagás Renovable have presented in La Robla the project for the construction of a renewable hydrogen plant whose production capacity will reach up to 280 MW.
This new plant, with commissioning scheduled for 2026 and an estimated investment of 485 million euros, will be located on the land of the old Naturgy thermal power plant, whose definitive closure was authorized in 2020 and which is currently in the process of being dismantled. . Naturgy and Enagás Renovable have launched the Robla Hub joint venture to carry out the project.
At the event, the Secretary of State for Energy, Sara Aagesen, remarked that “the development of renewable hydrogen is a key tool in the just transition and this fact happens because it constitutes, in turn, a reindustrialization vector in this area” .
The CEO of Enagás Renovable, Antón Martínez, highlighted that “this project reinforces our commitment to the energy transition and will allow us to support the decarbonisation of industries in the area, which will also be able to benefit from the efficiencies generated by the increase in production capacity”.
For her part, Silvia Sanjoaquín, Director of New Businesses at Naturgy, highlighted the opportunities that the new green hydrogen project in La Robla will generate in the region and the potential of Spain in promoting renewable gases. “This project will allow the development of renewable hydrogen production, promoting a quantitative leap to develop economies of scale and improve competitiveness,” she explained.
The development of the La Robla renewable hydrogen production plant will be associated with the start-up of a photovoltaic solar generation project made up of various parks located in neighboring municipalities, and whose total capacity is around 450 MWp.
Although initially the maximum capacity of the renewable hydrogen production plant was 60 MW, the existence of potential industrial consumers in the area and the proximity to the future hydrogen pipeline trunk network will allow the electrolysis power to be increased to 280 MW.
The new dimensioning of the Hydrogen Production Plant will achieve economies of scale, reducing the production costs of renewable hydrogen and thus increasing the competitive advantages of consumer companies. In addition, the project opts for the different calls for aid at the national and European level for the development of renewable hydrogen.
The La Robla renewable hydrogen production plant will prevent the emission into the atmosphere of more than 430,000 tons of CO 2 per year , contributing to the decarbonisation of industrial processes and the development of sustainable mobility.
The project also seeks to be a vector for local development, supporting the decarbonization of activities in the area, for which it has a series of potential consumers in the industry, such as the factory that Cementos Tudela Veguín has in La Robla. Likewise, sustainable mobility actions are planned in the Autonomous Community, such as those promoted by the company Alsa for interurban lines in the province.
This renewable project is aligned with the decarbonisation objectives of the European Union, the renewable hydrogen roadmap of Spain’s Just Transition Strategy, and the recent RePowerEU Plan to promote energy independence in the European Union.
The development of this project reinforces the commitment of Enagás Renovable and Naturgy to the energy transition and to the mining regions within the framework of the just transition after the cessation of activities such as mining and coal-fired power plants.
The current main objective of the project is to minimize the economic and social impact of the transition in the area and contribute to the development of a green and low-carbon economy. The La Robla renewable hydrogen production plant will thus provide an important boost for employment and local and regional social and economic development. In addition to the jobs that it will generate in the region, the plant will have a very positive social impact that will favor the repopulation of the area and will increase local revenue due to the tax effect.
Renewable hydrogen is mainly achieved through electrolysis, which consists of the separation of hydrogen from the oxygen in water through renewable electricity. The most decisive thing is that this process is powered entirely by renewable energy, so it does not generate any type of polluting emission into the atmosphere and it is the cleanest and most sustainable hydrogen.
Renewable hydrogen constitutes a key sustainable solution for the decarbonisation of the economy, and is part of the solution to achieve climate neutrality by 2050 set out in the European Green Deal.
Renewable hydrogen is called to be a valuable energy vector for end uses where it is the most efficient solution in the decarbonization process, such as hydrogen-intensive industry and high-temperature processes, long-distance heavy transport, maritime transport, rail transport or aviation. In addition, its quality as an energy vector gives it great potential as an instrument for energy storage and sectoral integration.
