Nippon Gases joins the Basque Hydrogen Corridor project

The Basque Hydrogen Corridor was created by Petronor- Repsol to advance in the decarbonisation of sectors such as energy, mobility, industry and services.   

The Basque Hydrogen Corridor will involve the investment of 1.3 billion euros until 2026, and will generate more than 1,340 direct jobs and 6,700 indirect jobs.

Highlights include investment of 650 million in the production of green hydrogen, 250 million for technological and industrial development throughout the value chain and digitisation, and 50 million for research into hydrogen applications in mobility, the residential sector and industry.

Hydrogen will play a leading role in the Basque Country's transition towards climate neutrality. The Basque Hydrogen Corridor Project, BH2C, is an initiative that will contribute to changing the energy and economic model to advance in the decarbonisation of strategic sectors such as energy, mobility, industry and services. It is a commitment to industry, born in the Basque Country from the hand of Petronor-Repsol, which is also being joined by organisations from other territories, and which will mean economic reactivation through the development of the techno-industrial chain of the hydrogen economy.

The project will involve an investment of more than 1,300 million euros up to 2026, and will generate more than 1,340 direct jobs and 6,700 indirect jobs.

The Basque Hydrogen Corridor has its origins in Repsol's strategic decision to invest in the Basque Country in projects that will mean further progress in the energy transition and thus achieve its goal of being a zero net emissions company by 2050. Petronor is also committed to turning the Basque Country into a hydrogen hub, making a definitive shift towards a green productive economy.

Thus, today the Basque Hydrogen Corridor consortium has been formalised with the participation of 78 organisations: 8 institutions, 12 knowledge centres and business associations and 58 companies. This project is based on a comprehensive strategy that includes 34 projects from the entire value chain and aims to be a lever for transforming the productive fabric and maintaining the weight of industry in our economy. These include projects that have to do with the "heart" of the hydrogen economy, such as the installation of an electrolyser factory, the development of the fuel cell, the development of the hydrogen plant (hydrogen dispenser) and with mobility applications, the development of the hydrogen bus and train. The projects that make up the initiative are grouped into:

- Production of renewable hydrogen and synthetic fuels.
- Mobility - Distribution logistics.
- Decarbonisation of Industry.
- Urban and residential uses
- Infrastructure.
- Industrial technological development

About the Basque Hydrogen Corridor

The Basque Hydrogen Corridor, now formalised, will be developed in two phases, the first of which is already underway and will culminate in 2026. The planned investment of 1.3 billion euros will result in the production of 20,000 tonnes of renewable hydrogen per year and will prevent the emission of 1.5 million tonnes of CO2 per year.

The investment during these first years will be earmarked for the development of renewable hydrogen production, infrastructures and applications required for the deployment of the Basque Hydrogen Corridor.

On the one hand, the investment of 650 million euros in renewable hydrogen production with an installed capacity of 112 Mw, for which three facilities will be built. Petronor's first of these, which will be operational in 2022, will have a capacity of 2 Mw and will be used to power the Abanto Technology Park. The second Petronor, EVE and Enagas facility, which will be operational in 2024 and located in the Port of Bilbao, will have 10 Mw, and its production will be destined for the synthetic fuels plant. The third, which will be in operation by 2025, will have 100 MW and will serve to decarbonise Petronor's production process as well as supply the needs of the Corridor itself.

In addition, a biogas production plant will be installed to produce hydrogen from solid urban waste.

Furthermore, 250 million euros will be needed to achieve the necessary maturity in technological and industrial development along the value chain and the development of the industrial digitalisation processes that are essential for the success of the macro-project.

In addition, 50 million euros will be earmarked for research projects related to hydrogen applications in mobility: passenger transport, long-distance freight (train, aviation, shipbuilding); residential: heat generation and cogeneration to cover the needs of commercial or residential buildings; and industry that is difficult to decarbonise.

This first stage will serve, in short, to lay the foundations for a hydrogen economy and obtain the technological-industrial mechanisms that will enable its development; this will allow the objective of decarbonisation of the energy sector to be achieved while generating value creation in the industrial sector.