Swiss investment company Smartenergy has decided to locate a 100MW Spanish green hydrogen project in municipality of Onda, Castellon, in Valencia.
Smartenergy said the ORANGE.BAT project, which will help to decarbonise the Spanish ceramics sector, will start commercial operation before the end of 2025.
The 100MW electrolyser’s location benefits from the proximity to the offtakers of the green hydrogen and the availability of key supplies like water and green electricity from a dedicated solar PV plant.
The project is in the engineering phase and the environmental permitting process has already started.
Smartenergy was recently invited to present ORANGE.BAT at the European Green Hydrogen Investment Event hosted by EIT InnoEnergy’s European Green Hydrogen Acceleration Center (EGHAC) in Paris on 29 November.
The EGHAC creates industrial players and supports green hydrogen projects with de-risking and acceleration, which is instrumental for developing the green hydrogen market that Europe needs for a successful energy transition.
José María Llopis, Managing Director Spain of Smartenergy, said: “This official presentation to investors and the great interest awakened in the meetings we have had in Paris, demonstrate the great potential and maturity of the project.
“ORANGE.BAT is a reference at the European level on how to work with a hard-to-abate industry, such as the ceramic sector, and provides excellent value to all parties directly or indirectly involved.”
Major industrial players, investment firms, research centres, and institutional bodies are involved in the project.
The two major sectorial associations of the ceramic industry, ASCER and ANFFECC, also support it. The
Spanish ceramic sector is the leading European ceramic tile producer in total square meters and generates a turnover of almost €5000m, with 95% of the sector based in the province of Castellon).
Smartenergy said it is in “advanced talks” for a phase two of the project, with a scale up of the capacity to 800MW, after phase one’s 100MW is completed.