Acciona and Nordex team up to develop green hydrogen projects outside Spain and Portugal

Acciona and its German subsidiary Nordex have formed ajoint venture to develop green hydrogenprojects inareas with abundant wind resources available and not connected to conventional electricity grids, to produce at competitive costs, the group headed by José Manuel Entrecanales announced Friday.

The new company already has eight sites of these characteristics located in the United States, Latin America and Africa and is evaluating new opportunities in other parts of the world, according to Acciona.

This joint venture will not operate in Spain and Portugal, where Acciona Energía already has an alliance with Plug Power.

The Acciona group will have a 50% stake in this new company, distributed equally between Acciona and Acciona Energía, while the German wind turbine manufacturer Nordex will hold the remaining 50%.

The operation has been articulated through the purchase by Acciona of half of Nordex's subsidiary for the development of green hydrogen projects for a deferred amount of 68 million euros, to be paid over the next four years.

Projects for a minimum of 1GW

With a target renewable energydevelopment portfolio of 50 gigawatts (GW), the plan of this new venture between Acciona and Nordex is to develop projects that will produce 0.5 million tons of green hydrogen per year over the next ten years. The first ones would be ready in 2027.

Each of the projects, whose minimum size will be 1GW of installed renewable power, will be deployed through strategic agreements with other public and private companies and institutions interested in the production or mass consumption of green hydrogen.

Acciona has highlighted that the demand for green hydrogen in the world will grow around 700% in the next 30 years, driven by the decarbonization of the economy, according to several studies.

"As a result, green hydrogen could contribute to 20% of total emission reduction needs by 2050. More than 25 countries have already established green hydrogen plans," the Spanish group added.

The European Commission published its REPowerEU plan in May last year, which charts the European Union's (EU) path towards rapidly reducing energy dependence on fossil fuels by 2027. The plan aims to produce ten million tons of renewable hydrogen in the EU and the same amount from imports by 2030.

Entrecanales: green hydrogen will be "key" to decarbonization

"Green hydrogen will be key to ending greenhouse gas emissions in sectors that are very difficult to decarbonize, such as industry, agriculture, or air and maritime transport," stressed Acciona's chairman and CEO, José Manuel Entrecanales.

"This joint venture complements our alliance with Plug Power for Spain and Portugal, which is more focused on proximity solutions for our customers," added Entrecanales.

José Luis Blanco, CEO of the Nordex group, highlighted that the group's experience in the development of wind projects has allowed it to "build an attractive portfolio of green hydrogen projects in interesting geographic areas, as well as a close network of excellent local developers and experienced partners".

Green hydrogen is obtained through the electrolysis process, which, using non-polluting renewable energies, breaks down water into its components, hydrogen and oxygen. Once obtained, the green hydrogen can be transported through pipelines or synthesized into green ammonia or sustainable fuel.

Nordex has been working for a year at its plant in Barasoain (Navarra) on the development of a new prototype pressurized alkaline electrolyzer adapted to the variable operation of renewable sources. This initiative has been recognized as an Important Project of Common European Interest (IPCEI).

The development of the electrolyzer is currently in an advanced R&D phase, with the aim of increasing the operational flexibility of alkaline technologies. At a later stage, Nordex will develop the modular prototype at its facilities in Navarra.