EDP gets enviro permit for 130-MW green hydrogen project in Spain

Portuguese utility EDP SA (ELI:EDP) on Monday announced that it has successfully completed the environmental permitting for a 130-MW electrolytic hydrogen project in Cadiz, southwestern Spain, moving closer towards the plan to transform its Los Barrios coal-fired power plant in the area into a green hydrogen hub.

The latest achievement arrives after EDP secured the EU’s IPCEI (Important Project of Common European Interest) designation for the Green H2 Los Barrios project, which came with a EUR-78-million grant (USD 87.1m). The company also entered the project into the Spanish government's green hydrogen incentives programmes, where it secured additional EUR 18 million.

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EDP plans to invest close to EUR 200 million to install 130 MW of electrolysers at the Los Barrios site as part of the first phase of the development. The electrolysis capacity may exceed 500 MW in the second phase, depending on whether market conditions are favourable, EDP said.

The electrolysers will be powered by onshore wind and solar farms. The whole setup is expected to become part of the wider Campo de Gibraltar green hydrogen valley with other industrial-scale projects, most notably those promoted by Spanish oil major Cepsa.

Green H2 Los Barrios is EDP’s second green hydrogen project in Spain to secure state aid in the same EU and Spanish tenders and obtain the environmental permit. The utility’s Asturias H2 Valley project is also designed as a coal-to-green hydrogen transition scheme, situated at its Abono coal-fired plant in the Spanish region of Asturias.

EDP plans to cease coal-based power production in 2025 and become a fully green energy utility in 2030.

(EUR 1.0 = USD 1.116)