The president of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, today presented the first hydrogen production and supply plant in the region whose ultimate goal is to supply public transport companies.
“In the future, this energy can be a great ally to decarbonise key sectors such as industry or transport because it is obtained from renewable sources”, highlighted the president in these pioneering facilities, whose construction has been carried out and is operated in the municipality of Sewn by HVR Energy.
At this point, electricity and water reach the electrolyser module, with the capacity to produce 70 kilos of green hydrogen per day in its initial phase -in a second expansion it will reach a capacity of up to 280-. This energy is enough to refuel up to eight buses. In this case, it will begin with one from the Avanza company in charge of urban line 2 of this municipality in the eastern zone.
“This project aims to demonstrate the technical, operational and economic feasibility of using green hydrogen as a fuel for urban and interurban transport”, stated Díaz Ayuso, stressing that the plant must be the first phase of a subsequent deployment on a larger scale. “It is not possible to advance in decarbonization without attending to a sector, that of transport, which concentrates 52% of direct emissions in our region. For this reason, from the Community of Madrid we insist on a transport based on clean energy ”, he underlined.
For this reason, the regional government has a Plan based on an incentive policy to help families and companies to buy all kinds of electric vehicles, installing charging points, subsidizing shared cars and motorcycles or removing highly polluting vehicles.
Science and incentives to protect Cultural Heritage
The president also stressed that to successfully face the challenges of the environment, “above all, a scientific diagnosis is necessary where everyone counts”. “The legitimate and necessary concern for our natural heritage cannot serve as an excuse to intervene in the economy or to establish suffocating control over the lives of citizens”, she has indicated.
In this sense, it cannot be used either, added the head of the regional government, to ban industries, “as is happening with diesel or gasoline vehicles that today have made great strides to reduce pollution.” “I hope that these decisions that have been made are reconsidered because I think they are not on the best path,” she indicated.
“In the face of authoritarianism that exploits the environment with taxes and prohibitions, what I do is a closed defense of the aspiration to prosper in freedom and, of course, always taking care of our natural heritage”, has pointed out Díaz Ayuso, who believes in positive incentives and science “as better tools to protect nature along with technology.”
transport measures
Through the Regional Transport Consortium (CRTM), the first fuel cell bus refueled at this plant is incorporated. It will have more than 70 expeditions a week covering more than 118.000 kilometers and will serve more than 137.000 travelers a year. In the Community of Madrid, 4.147 urban and interurban buses circulate daily in the 179 municipalities of the region. Of the total, 32,6% that operate with the Consortium do so with clean energy such as gas, hydrogen or electricity.
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In addition, at the end of this year, the entire urban fleet of the concessionaire company Arriva, located in Alcorcón, will be electric, which will make it the first town in the region to have completely zero emissions and zero noise urban transport. One year ago, the first hydrogen-powered bus operated by the company ALSA began to serve, and which serves on the urban line 4 of Torrejón de Ardoz.
SOURCE: Comunidad de Madrid
