EDP, Galp and REN, Portugal´s major energy companies, are moving ahead in a European consortium to invest EUR 1.5 Billion in an hydrogen power project in the country´s industrial cluster of Sines.
The H2Sines project includes infrastructure supplier Martifer, Denmark’s Vestas and other European partners, and plans the installation of a 10MW electrolysis pilot project that could develop up to 1GW of capacity, according to news site ECO.
In the long run, the project foresees the installation of about 1.5GW of renewable electric power generation capacity.
In a joint statement, EDP, Galp and Martifer informed that the project has a “strong international dimension, due to the exports aspect, but also due to the partnerships with companies with extensive experience in the hydrogen value chain.”
“The green hydrogen production in Sines contemplated by the H2Sines project integrates and optimizes the entire value chain, from renewable electricity generation, hydrogen production and its distribution, transport, storage, marketing and export,” the consortium said in a statement.
An international Memorandum of Understanding has already been signed to study the feasibility of creating a value chain for the export of hydrogen from Sines to Northern Europe.
“The project aims to leverage the competitive advantages of endogenous renewable natural resources, contributing to the reindustrialization of the Portuguese and European economies on a more sustainable basis, as well as the balance of trade”, the statement adds.
Besides export, the green hydrogen that will be produced in Sines could also be used domestically in the industrial and transport sectors, as well as for injection into the natural gas network.
The consortium wants to guarantee the financial balance of H2Sines and ensures that the project will develop “in a progressive manner, seeking to optimize the adequacy of hydrogen production volumes and their consumption, as well as the cost competitiveness of the technologies involved.”
The project meets all the criteria for an application for the status of Important Projects of Common European Interest (IPCEI) and was one of 37 chosen by the government, for its “export dimension, but also for the potential contribution it is expected to make in the Portuguese’s transition industrial fabric to a sustainable energy matrix.”
The statement adds that “the technological collaboration aspect is essential to improve the competitiveness of the project, which is still at a preliminary stage, indispensable for the evaluation of the respective framework conditions and cost-efficient viability in the market.”
EDP´s main shareholder is China Three Gorges, while REN, which manages the country´s electric distribution network, is a joint-venture between China State Grid and the State of Portugal.
The bid for the construction of the new Vasco da Gama terminal at Portugal´s Port of Sines has been delayed until April 2021, according to the administration. The c. EUR 600 million project, which the Government of Portugal wants to include in China´s Belt and Road initiative, is expected to have bids from major international companies, including from China.
Photo: Port of Sines, Portugal
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