Spanish energy giant Repsol is planning to build a net zero emissions synthetic fuel plant in Spain based on green hydrogen powered by renewable energy.
Repsol said €60m will initially be invested in the project and will include partners Petronor, one of Spain’s principal industrial centres, and the Energy Agency of the Basque Government.
The facility is planned to be fully operational within four years, with conceptual engineering starting this year.
It will combine CO2 captured at a nearby Petronor refinery and green hydrogen as the raw materials in the process, Repsol said.
The company added that the first phase, which will be scalable in a later commercial stage depending on the results obtained, will produce 50 barrels of synthetic fuel a day, with net zero emissions of CO2 in the entire production cycle.
Repsol chief executive Josu Jon Imaz said: “Spain must base its decarbonisation strategy on its technological and industrial capabilities.
“The production of green hydrogen in combination with the capture and use of CO2 to produce net zero emission fuels is part of the industrial decarbonisation strategy of Repsol.
“With this project, the Spanish industry is positioning itself to become a leading European player in reducing emissions.”
Petronor chairman Emiliano Lopez Atxurra said: “The project unifies three important characteristics in the current situation: a commitment to reduce the carbon footprint and the technological neutrality as a lever; the challenges that the industry and technology are facing in relation to the energy transition; and public-private partnerships as a smart tool to realise an industrial development that will help us consolidate a sustainable welfare society.”