ArcelorMittal, Enagás, Grupo Fertiberia and DH2 Energy are behind the effort, which will see competitively priced hydrogen produced via electrolysis and supplied to a major industrial complex in Asturias, Spain to replace fossil fuels.

Dubbed HyDeal España, the project was first teased as an industrial joint venture in November 2021. Now, after a one-year pre-feasibility study, the development, financing and construction of the required infrastructure can begin to take place.

Whilst the project is targeting a 9.5GW capacity by 2030, hydrogen production plans are expected to begin from as early as 2025. Once operational, this production will then be scaled to meet the project’s ultimate targets.

Already, ArcelorMittal and Grupo Fertiberia, along with other organisations that will join HyDeal Spain, will be major buyers of this clean energy, and plan to purchase 6.6 million tonnes of renewable hydrogen over the next 20 years,

Through such purchase deals, buying firms will be able to advance and clean the production of green steel, green ammonia, green fertilizers and other low-carbon industrial and energy products.

Thierry Lepercq, President of the Platform and Spokesperson for HyDeal Ambition, said, “HyDeal Spain is the first concrete implementation of the green hydrogen model with a cost of €1.5/kg announced in February 2021.

“We are launching a historic message to all energy users: green hydrogen is not just about small, local, high-cost projects. It is now a complete product, capable of competing with coal, oil, and natural gas in both cost and volume. It is the weapon large-scale solution against the climate crisis and skyrocketing energy prices.”

As well as showcasing how hard to abate sectors and industry can utilise hydrogen, the effort will also highlight Spain as a leading player in the hydrogen market. Already this year, the country has made huge commitments, have launched its Spanish Hydrogen Network (SHYNE) to boost renewable hydrogen developments throughout the geography.

Jose Manuel Arias, President of ArcelorMittal, commented, “HyDeal Spain is a strategic alliance for ArcelorMittal, which will give us access to the volume of green hydrogen necessary to progress on our roadmap towards decarbonisation in steel production.

“Thanks to the integration of a whole group of companies and the effect of economies of scale, HyDeal Spain will be able to offer a competitive supply of hydrogen obtained from renewable energy sources, which will be key to allowing us to achieve our objective of reducing by 50% CO2 emissions from our activity in Spain by 2030.

“At the same time, other sectors of the economy will also be able to benefit from the potential offered by hydrogen as a clean and sustainable energy solution to decarbonise their own processes.”