Great technological progress, whether through arduous intellectual calculation or pure serendipity, has always been a fundamental part of the industrial, cultural and social fabric of history. Whether it be the wheel, sewerage, writing, printing, or the Internet… nothing would be the same without them.
When you trace their origins, all these milestones have a common denominator: they were invented for a limited and precise use – the first to enjoy the roundness of the wheel were the potters of Mesopotamia 5,000 years BC. Its spin-offs became accelerators for commerce, transport, health, knowledge, and so on, to follow. The wheel became a crucial factor in the development of the human race and changed us forever.
Now we are at another decisive moment in the planet’s history, where we must change the direction of events if we are to continue living here as a society. As the sociologist Jeremy Rifkin says in his book, The Hydrogen Economy, we need a new energy system with the potential to remodel civilization radically. This is what we’ll be discussing here, green hydrogen, which, thanks to the effort of companies and governments, is making the new clean revolution possible.
Spain’s first industrial facility for renewable hydrogen is already operating. Power to Green Hydrogen Mallorca, led by Enagás and ACCIONA Energía, also featuring IDEA and CEMEX, is the first project in southern Europe to be scaled up to a plant. At the same time, it represents a complete ecosystem for green hydrogen use, a value chain that can be copied on other European islands.
Let’s have a look at this novel project in depth.
Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe. It does not smell, it cannot be seen, you can’t touch it. This gas, allied with renewable energies, could decarbonize the planet. And, so doing, help reindustrialize regions blessed with sun and wind, the two most valuable raw materials needed for the energy transition.
Introducing Power to Green Hydrogen Mallorca, Spain’s first industrial-sized green hydrogen plant, which will produce at least 300 tonnes per year to serve various energy needs on the Balearic island. The project is more than just a generating plant, however; it consists of a complete ecosystem of infrastructure and equipment conceived for the use of renewable hydrogen, part of Green Hysland, a program subsidized by the European Union.
When Power to Green Hydrogen Mallorca is fully up and running, it will contribute decisively to decarbonization of the island in many ways:
The aim of all these initiatives is to reduce CO2 emissions on the island by around 21,000 tonnes per year, equivalent to withdrawing 30,000 diesel or petrol vehicles from circulation.
Power to Green Hydrogen Mallorca forms part of Green Island, a European Union project which, through the Clean Hydrogen Partnership, has committed 10 million euros to its construction. This European investment, made in line with the new EU Hydrogen Strategy and the Spanish Government’s “Hydrogen Roadmap: supporting renewable hydrogen”, is the second largest subsidy granted by this body to a green hydrogen project and the first to a Mediterranean country.
The project counted upon exceptional support from the institutions at its inauguration ,with the presence of: Teresa Ribera, Third Vice-President of the Government and Minister for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge; Reyes Maroto, Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism; Francina Armengol, President of the Balearic Islands; Balearic Vice-President Juan Pedro Yllanes, and; ACCIONA Chairman & CEO José Manuel Entrecanales, among others.
The green hydrogen facility at Lloseta is powered by two photovoltaic plants close to the installation. This renewable energy source is precisely what guarantees the “green” label attached to the hydrogen produced, since it results in no polluting gases discharged to the atmosphere.
To certify the clean nature of the electricity, the plant uses the platform GreenH2Chain, developed by ACCIONA Energía, a pioneering tool in the sector based on Blockchain technology. GreenH2Chain is able to trace, anywhere in the world and in real time, the renewable origin of the electricity generated and check with certainty that the supply is 100% clean.
The world will welcome the arrival of an infinite source of fuel that does not produce emissions and whose only waste is water vapour. It could be the key to liberating many economies from the bondage of energy dependence. This is why ACCIONA has been committed to renewable energies for many years now, investing in businesses that regenerate the planet and produce a net positive capital for generations to come.
With green hydrogen, we can take a step further toward decarbonization. This is an opportunity for our culture to go down in history as having produced a new clean revolution.
We are used to seeing solar panels on the roofs of houses or on large expanses of land, but not on reservoirs.