ANDALUCIA is set to pocket €440 million to turbocharge its fledgling renewable hydrogen industry – in a move experts say will drastically slash CO2 emissions across the region.
The European Commission announced this week it had given Spain the green light to unlock the funds, with the Spanish government estimating the measure would cut nearly 1,800 tonnes of CO2.
The funding boost comes after Spanish energy giant Moeve revealed last year it would start building ‘Europe’s largest’ green hydrogen plant near Palos de la Frontera, Huelva, in early 2026.
READ MORE: Europe’s largest green hydrogen plant gets €3 billion green light to be built in Andalucia
Dubbed the ‘Andalucian Green Hydrogen Valley’, the €3 billion project would also see another plant built near San Roque, in Campo de Gibraltar.
Once completed, the plants could generate enough energy to power 1.5 million homes, Moeve has said – though most of the output will be used for industrial purposes.
Green hydrogen is a clean fuel made without pumping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Unlike traditional hydrogen, which is often produced from fossil fuels, it comes from splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen using electricity from renewable sources like solar and wind.
This process is called electrolysis, and because the electricity is green, the hydrogen that comes out is too – meaning virtually zero CO2 is emitted in its production.
Because Andalucia boasts abundant sunshine, strong wind resources, and a strategic location near ports, it is ‘ideally positioned’ for large-scale renewable energy production, EU officials have said.
With the planned €440 million investment, Spain expects to build 382 MW of electrolysis capacity in Andalucia, which could generate up to 243,800 tonnes of green hydrogen.
The output is enough energy to replace around 1% of fossil fuels currently used in transport and heavy industry across the region, according to government figures – preventing the emission of nearly 1.8 million tonnes of CO2.
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