2023-06-14 13:49:47
King Felipe VI supported this Wednesday the future green hydrogen corridor that will link Spain with the Netherlands, whose monarch, Guillermo Alejandro, attended the event in the port of Algeciras, the starting point of that maritime route that will connect with Rotterdam. Both kings supported the energy interconnections that will be key to accelerating the transition and, above all, ensuring European autonomy after the setback of the war in Ukraine, which has highlighted the high dependence that the EU had on Russia in this matter derived from record gas and electricity prices last year.
At the event, Felipe VI and Guillermo attended the signing of agreements between Cepsa and European multinationals such as the Norwegian Yara and the Dutch Gasunie. The objective of these agreements is to promote the first green hydrogen maritime corridor between southern and northern Europe, connecting two of the main ports of the continent, Rotterdam and Algeciras.
The future corridor will contribute to creating a renewable energy supply chain to decarbonise industry and maritime transport, connecting the Andalusian Green Hydrogen Valley, led by Cepsa, with Rotterdam, which has one of the highest energy demands in Europe. After arriving at the port of that Dutch city, the green hydrogen can be distributed through hydroducts to reach a large number of industries located in the center and north of the continent.
diesel gavamen
Within this energy framework, Cepsa announced the start-up of a new green ammonia plant in its San Roque Energy Park, in Cádiz, with an annual production capacity of up to 750,000 tons, which can prevent the emission of 3 million tons of carbon dioxide. of carbon (CO2). The facility, which will be the largest green ammonia plant in Europe, will be operational in 2027, involves an investment of 1,000 million euros and the creation of 3,300 direct, indirect and induced jobs. The event was also attended by the CEO of Cepsa, Maarten Wetselaar, who pointed out that Europe “must move forward to guarantee supply autonomy and achieve a carbon-neutral energy system.”
Given the possibility raised by the Minister for the Ecological Transition, Teresa Ribera, of raising the tax on diesel if the PSOE returns to rule after the elections, the Cepsa executive pointed out that it would be “a good way to create demand” for renewable alternatives such as green hydrogen, to the detriment of the fuels themselves. “It is one of the strengths of the European system,” she indicated, pointing out that “it can be done via subsidies or with taxes to make fuels more expensive.”
push agreements
Russia’s conflict with Ukraine has increased the need to strengthen collaboration between European countries to increase security of energy supply and independence of access, as well as accelerate the transition to clean and decarbonised energy. Among the new alternatives that are emerging, green hydrogen and its derivatives, such as green ammonia, have emerged as one of the fastest, most viable and competitive solutions to achieve this goal. It is expected that by 2050, green hydrogen will represent a third of the fuel used in world land transport, 60% of maritime transport and will be decisive in being able to store energy from a renewable electrical system. Green hydrogen is expected to contribute between 15% and 20% of the global energy mix by mid-century.
Cepsa is already developing the Andalusian Green Hydrogen Valley, the largest green hydrogen project presented in Europe, with an investment of 3,000 million euros, the creation of 10,000 jobs and a production capacity of 300,000 tons of green hydrogen, making it that will avoid the emission of 6 million tons of CO2. The company is currently developing the basic engineering of the projects and the management of permits for the start of production in 2026 in its energy park in Palos de la Frontera (Huelva) and, in 2027, in San Roque (Cádiz). .
In the presence of the monarchs of Spain and the Netherlands, Cepsa signed collaboration agreements with Yara Clean Ammonia, the Norwegian multinational world leader in the green ammonia sector (derived from green hydrogen), and Gasunie, the leading Dutch company in gas transport and infrastructure, which connects the Port of Rotterdam with other European industrial clusters in Germany, the Netherlands and Denmark.
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