ACCIONA Energía and Plug Power presented today to the Government of Navarra their joint project ‘Valle H2V Navarra’ to build an industrial-scale green hydrogen production plant in Rocaforte, Sangüesa.

The project, still in the development phase, proposes the construction of a 25MW electrolyzer on the grounds adjacent to the Sangüesa biomass plant, powered by hybrid renewable energy produced by a photovoltaic plant (25MW) and a wind farm (24MW), both newly constructed and currently in development.

ACCIONA Energía and Plug Power’s plans include a total associated investment of €87 million and the creation of more than 500 direct, indirect, and induced jobs during the construction phase of the plant.

Once built, the plant will achieve a total production of 3,880 tons per year of green hydrogen. The goal is for about 90% of the production to be allocated to the consumption of the main high-energy-consuming industrial sectors in the region, such as the paper, glass, steel, food, and automotive industries, as well as to Plug Power’s customers in material handling, stationary power, and road mobility applications, contributing to decarbonization and reducing CO2 emissions. The remaining 10% will be allocated to the transportation sector through the installation of a hydrogen station at the same location.

The project contemplates the possibility of expanding the hydrogen plant in the future, according to the evolution of demand, to double the initially planned capacity (50MW) of electrolysis.

REGIONAL INTEREST PROJECT

Representatives from the Government of Navarra, including President María Chivite, Economic and Business Development Counselor Mikel Irujo, and Industrial Director Uxue Itoiz, attended the project presentation. Also present were the Mayor of Sangüesa, Lucía Echegoyen, and the President of the Rocaforte Council, María Eugenia Pérez. Representing the project were ACCIONAPLUG President and ACCIONA Energía CEO Rafael Mateo, ACCIONAPLUG CEO Alan Ripa, and Plug Power’s Director of Sales for the Europe Applications Business Unit, Alasdair Leapman.

Navarra’s President, María Chivite, announced in today’s meeting that the regional government, in its session tomorrow, will declare the Valle H2V Navarra project of regional interest, thus accelerating its processing and development. She also emphasized the “strategic” nature of this project not only due to the investments and jobs created but also because it will “provide clean energy to the industrial ecosystem of the region, where there are large energy-consuming companies, and because it will place Sangüesa on the map of innovation.”

The project brings together all key elements of the green hydrogen value chain, from renewable energy generation and production infrastructure to green hydrogen storage and distribution. At the time of its operation, it will be one of the largest green hydrogen plants in Europe.

“Valle H2V Navarra is born with the aim of being the first operational industrial-scale green hydrogen generation plant in the Foral Community and to drive the qualitative and quantitative decarbonization of the region’s industry,” said Rafael Mateo, President of ACCIONAPLUG and CEO of ACCIONA Energía. “Furthermore, this project is of particular interest thanks to its scalability and replicability, as it will provide an operational example of the contribution of green hydrogen to the energy transition.”

The Valle H2V Navarra project is expected to start generating green hydrogen by the end of 2024, allowing the Navarra government to comply with the Navarra Green Hydrogen Agenda, a route to the development of a green hydrogen ecosystem, which foresees the installation of between 10MW and 30MW of production by 2024 and 150MW by 2030 in the Foral Community.

COMPETITIVE H2V SOLUTIONS

The Valle H2V Navarra project is being developed by ACCIONAPLUG, a joint venture formed 50% by ACCIONA Energía, a world leader in renewable energy, and Plug Power, a leading provider of turnkey hydrogen solutions for the global green hydrogen economy, including electrolyzers, fuel cells, forklifts, and liquefaction.

The joint venture, headquartered in Madrid, combines the best electrolyzer technology from Plug Power with ACCIONA Energía’s position as the primary distributor of 100% renewable energy in Spain and Portugal, where ACCIONAPLUG works on the development of green hydrogen projects.

Spain and Portugal are poised to play a leading role in the European economy’s path to decarbonization, benefiting from the highest levels of renewable resources. The Spanish government presented its hydrogen roadmap in October 2020, and Portugal approved its roadmap in August 2020. ACCIONAPLUG’s goal is to achieve a 20% market share by 2030.