Green hydrogen is set to be a key element in the energy transition and Castellón has just entered the race to produce this gas on a large scale through wind and solar energy. The Ministry of Ecological Transition has published the provisional resolutions of the first hydrogen aid programs (PERTE ERHA) and among the 29 selected there is one of the province: the project promoted by the companies BP and Iberdrola in the Serrallo industrial estate in Castelló.
Thus, the department headed by Teresa Rivera and within the subprogram called Value Chain, has approved a contribution of 15 million euros (the maximum possible) from European funds for the Castellón gH2 project, a green hydrogen production plant and in which an electrolyzer will be built on the premises of the refinery.
bp and Iberdrola's macro-project, which will allow the decarbonization of the industry, has been included among the 29 programs selected by the Government throughout the country and, in addition, has obtained the second best evaluation within the Value Chain sub-program, in which 17 projects were admitted although, finally, only seven have been admitted.
The first phase, in 2025
The first phase of the gH2 project is scheduled for 2025, with an electrolyzer of 60 megawatts of electricity. A facility that, according to bp's forecasts, will make it possible to produce up to 9,000 tons of green hydrogen per year and reduce 72,000 tons of CO2, in addition to activating pilot projects that are being developed with the ceramics industry and heavy mobility fleets. To achieve the electrolysis process, and convert water into hydrogen, energy is needed, and that is why bp has teamed up with Iberdrola, in a project that was announced this summer, and whose formalization is expected shortly.
The second phase, which in principle will start in 2027,envisages a five-fold increase in the electrolyzer's capacity, with 300 megawatts of electricity. In 2030 (third phase), it is planned that the green hydrogen production can be exported to points in northern Europe.
BP intends to sell abroad the green hydrogen it will generate at its Serrallo plant,but one of the industries that will benefit most will be ceramics, which has been suffocated for months by the high costs of natural gasand which, moreover, needs to continue manufacturing beyond the years 2030 and 2050, dates on which a drastic reduction of emissions into the atmosphere must be carried out. In fact, in January this year bp signed collaboration agreements with the ceramics employers' association Ascer and the Association of Frits and Glazes Manufacturers (Anffecc) to advance in decarbonization solutions.
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