Naturgy and Enagás Renovable will receive financing from the European Commission’s “Innovation Fund” program for the La Robla green hydrogen plant
- The La Robla renewable hydrogen project (León) has been selected to receive 42 million euros of financing under the 3rd call for large-scale projects within the framework of the European Union Innovation Fund.
- The renewable hydrogen production plant is one of the 13 projects selected by the European Commission under the category of industry electrification and hydrogen.
- The project presented by Naturgy and Enagás Renovable has the collaboration of Fertiberia, the potential main consumer of the hydrogen produced in La Robla.
- The renewable hydrogen production plant will avoid the emission into the atmosphere of more than 430,000 tons of CO 2 per year .
The renewable hydrogen production plant in La Robla (León), promoted by Naturgy and Enagás Renovable, has been proposed by the European Commission to receive 42 million euros within the framework of the Innovation Fund, a program aimed at the deployment of technologies, processes and innovative products that contribute to the decarbonization commitments of the European Union. This financial support drives the development of the project and validates its maturity, giving it a significant competitive advantage.
Currently, the European Commission has extended a formal invitation to the promoters to formalize the Grant Agreement , marking the beginning of a collaboration that will not only benefit La Robla but will also contribute to the advancement of innovation and technology at national and European level. The project is one of 13 selected by the Commission in the line of industry electrification and hydrogen. From a total of 239 applications, the Commission has granted funding to 41 innovative projects with low carbon emissions in its different lines.
The Innovation Fund is one of the largest financing programs aimed at the development of innovative technologies aimed at reducing CO 2 emissions in the European Union. The selected projects cover, along with Spain, 14 other countries, including Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal and Sweden, as well as Norway. All of them will come into operation before 2030 and have the potential to avoid 221 million tons of CO 2 emissions in their first decade of operation.
The La Robla hydrogen production plant will have a production capacity that will reach up to 280 MW and will be located on the land of the former Naturgy thermal power plant, whose definitive closure was authorized in 2020 and whose dismantling will be completed during 2024.
In addition, the development of the plant will be associated with the launch of a photovoltaic solar generation project made up of various parks located in municipalities surrounding La Robla.
The project will prevent the emission into the atmosphere of more than 430,000 tons of CO 2 per year , contributing to the decarbonization of industrial processes and the development of sustainable mobility. Specifically, renewable hydrogen will play a key role in the decarbonization of the industrial processes of Fertiberia, the potential main consumer of the hydrogen produced in La Robla. Fertiberia actively collaborated in the presentation of the proposal to the Innovation Fund call, underlining its commitment to innovation and decarbonization.
The development of the project in La Robla will take place in a coordinated and harmonized manner with the decarbonization plans of the hydrogen consumers that the project will supply. Likewise, it will be aligned with the construction of hydrogen transportation infrastructure in the Spanish national context. This strategic synergy will guarantee efficient and effective implementation of the project, optimizing the integration of hydrogen technology into the country’s energy matrix.
Antón Martínez, CEO of Enagás Renovable, expressed: «This project reinforces our commitment to the energy transition and will allow us to support the decarbonization of the region’s industries. “The funding received is key to making this vision a reality and accelerating the shift towards more sustainable energy.”
Silvia Sanjoaquín, Director of New Businesses at Naturgy, highlighted: «Obtaining financing is a great milestone for the La Robla hydrogen project and reinforces our commitment to decarbonization through the development of renewable gases and with the economic reactivation of Just Transition zones.
One year has passed since the presentation of the project in La Robla
The communication of the allocation of this aid by the European Commission takes place almost a year after the presentation of the project in La Robla by the CEO of Enagás Renovable, Antón Martínez, and the Director of New Businesses of Naturgy, Silvia Sanjoaquín .
The presentation event was attended by the Secretary of State for Energy of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, Sara Aagesen; the Government delegate in Castilla y León, Virginia Barcones Sanz; the mayor of La Robla, Santiago Dorado Cañón; the director of the Institute for Just Transition, Laura Martín Murillo; the president of the Provincial Council of León, Eduardo Morán Pacios; the General Director of Energy and Mines of the Government of Castilla y León, Alfonso Arroyo González; and the subdelegate of the Government in León, Faustino Sánchez Samartino.
The Secretary of State for Energy, Sara Aagesen, highlighted during the event that “the development of renewable hydrogen is a key tool in the just transition and this fact means that it constitutes, in turn, a vector of reindustrialization in this area.”
Renewable hydrogen, the new ally for decarbonization
Renewable hydrogen is mainly achieved through electrolysis, which consists of separating hydrogen from the oxygen in water using renewable electricity. The most decisive thing is that this process is powered entirely by renewable energy, so it does not generate any type of polluting emissions into the atmosphere and is the cleanest and most sustainable hydrogen.
Renewable hydrogen constitutes a key sustainable solution for the decarbonization of the economy, and is part of the solution to achieve climate neutrality in 2050 set out in the European Green Deal.
Renewable hydrogen is destined to be a valuable energy vector for end uses where it is the most efficient solution in the decarbonization process, such as hydrogen-intensive industry and high-temperature processes, long-distance heavy transport, maritime transport, rail transport or aviation. In addition, it offers great potential as an instrument for energy storage and sector integration.
About Enagás Renewable
Enagás Renovable has a portfolio of more than 30 specific projects in Spain in the field of renewable gases and decarbonization, which represents one of the largest European platforms in this field. The company’s shareholding structure is made up of Enagás (60%), Hy24 —a joint venture formed by Ardian and FiveT Hydrogen— (30%), Pontegadea (5%) and Navantia —SEPI— (5%).
Enagás Renovable already has several pioneering projects in the field of renewable gases that are in line with the Hydrogen and Biogas Roadmaps for Spain and the decarbonization objectives of the European Union. Among them, the development of the first green hydrogen industrial plant in Spain, located in Lloseta (Mallorca), and the start-up of the “UNUE” biomethane production plant, in Burgos, stand out, the latter being the first biomethane project. of great magnitude carried out in Spain by a private initiative.
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