Spanish renewable hydrogen project moves ahead with Danish energy giant at the lead

Project Catalina will produce H2 with an electrolyzer powered by wind and solar energy.

Spanish Project Catalina was created for renewable hydrogen and ammonia production, with the goal of beginning construction of the first phase late next year.

The project is going to be led by an energy giant based in Denmark as part of a new partnership.

Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) have announced that they have partnered with Spanish energy companies, Enegás, Naturgy and Fertiberia. Also involved is a wind turbine manufacturer from Denmark.

Together, the companies will be collaborating on Catalina Phase 1, which involves the generation of up to 1.7 gigawatts of solar and wind energy in Aragon, in Spain’s northeast. It will also include a 500-megawatt electrolyzer able to produce over 40,000 tons of renewable hydrogen annually.

The project will then involve linking Aragon with Valencia in Spain’s east with a pipeline. That pipeline will make it possible to transport the H2 to a green ammonia facility. According to CIP, the ammonia will then be “upgraded” into fertilizer.

Project Catalina will eventually use the solar and wind energy to produce renewable hydrogen.

After the initial phase, the project will continue forward for the development of 5GW of combined solar and wind energy. That will be used for powering a 2GW electrolyzer for the generation of green H2.

The scale of the project is substantial. “Once fully implemented, Catalina will produce enough green hydrogen to supply 30% of Spain’s current hydrogen demand,” said a statement from CIP. The project’s financing has not been publicly disclosed. That said, CIP did explain that Project Catalina would make a “significant contribution” to the “recovery, transformation and Resilience Plan (PERTE) in Spain, through clean power, renewable H2 and hydrogen storage.

Last December, the government of Spain said that PERTE would mobilize €16.37 billion in resources. According to Spanish authorities, the private sector will invest €9.45 billion, with another €6.92 billion in funding coming from PERTE. The project will produce only renewable hydrogen from wind or solar energy, for a zero-carbon fuel produced without greenhouse gas emissions. H2 production has become a major component of decarbonization in many European countries.