EDP plans to invest 15.5 million euros in a green hydrogen production station next to the old Carregado Thermal Power Station, in the municipality of Alenquer, the Lusa news agency reported today.
An official EDP source told Lusa that the green hydrogen production station, an investment of 15.5 million euros, will have an electrolysis capacity of five megawatts.
95% of the production will be injected into the natural gas transmission network and the rest used to supply a hydrogen distribution station for heavy vehicles.
The energy company admitted, however, that the investment “was adjusted from the initially planned deadlines due to the delay of around a year in the decision to allocate the Recovery and Resilience Plan funds”.
Also, “the launch of the injection auction, an essential step for the financing and decision to implement the project, has been delayed,” and the project is being evaluated.
In 2020, EDP, the Municipality of Alenquer, a heavy vehicle brand and a logistics company established a cooperation aimed at evaluating and testing the use of hydrogen as an energy vector in the transport and logistics sector and promoting the role of hydrogen in decarbonizing the economy.
“The project aims to investigate how to make energy production in combined cycle power plants more flexible, enabling more efficient operation and reducing environmental impacts,” says the agreement, to which the Lusa news agency has had access.
According to the document, the project also studies the use of the hydrogen produced in different applications, such as injection into the existing gas network, in the transport sector or in industry, focusing on the production of hydrogen by electrolysis and testing and its use in the transport sector.
The project comprises three phases, the feasibility analysis, the experimental phase and the commercial phase, with the partners arguing that in order to be commercially viable it needs funding.
For the partners, “the development of a hydrogen value chain is fundamental if Portugal is to maintain and increase the share of renewable energies in total energy demand at a reasonable cost”.
According to them, hydrogen “is one of the most promising solutions” for sectors that are difficult to decarbonize, such as high-temperature industries, aviation or heavy transport.
The agreement stipulated that it would take two years to take effect.
Alenquer City Council, which has provided land for the project, confirmed to Lusa that the project is awaiting the definition of the price auction for injection into the natural gas network and the vehicle supplier who has the technical data and can supply the equipment on time.
Among the work already carried out is the request for consultations for the supply of the electrolyzer and for the contract, as well as a geotechnical study to assess the environmental impact.
Practical issues are being defined in order to make the hydrogen refueling station operational.
