Moeve has gone ahead and marked the beginning of construction of the first phase of the Andalusian Green Hydrogen Valley, which is the largest renewable hydrogen project in Europe, with an event in Palos de la Frontera, Huelva, thereby bringing a group of senior representatives from the Spanish Government, the Regional Government of Andalusia, the European Commission, and the municipalities of Palos de la Frontera and Huelva, as well as business leaders that are involved with and supporting the project.
Their presence was an example of the strategic significance of this cutting-edge initiative, which seeks to support the establishment of a new market for renewable hydrogen and place Spain on top of the sector globally.
The first phase of the Andalusian Green Hydrogen Valley is called Onuba. The Onuba project, located in Moeve’s Energy Park in Palos de la Frontera, Huelva, will have a starting 300 MW of electrolysis capacity, with the possibility to expand by 105 MW. The project is a joint investment of over €1 billion, including associated infrastructure. When it comes to the development, construction, and commissioning phases, over 8,000 direct, indirect, and induced jobs along the value chain are expected to be created, supporting the economic activity of over 400 local SMEs as well as self-employed workers.
The project, led by Moeve with a 51% majority stake, gains from a solid shareholder structure with industrial and financial expertise and strategic partners Hy24, the world’s largest clean hydrogen private equity asset manager, as well as Spain’s public-private finance institution, COFIDES, with an aggregate 29% stake. The remaining 20% is shared between Enagás Renovable, which is one of Europe’s leading developers when it comes to renewable gas projects, and Alter Enersun, a company that specializes in the development of renewable electricity generation facilities.
The plant will be able to produce around 45,000 tonnes of renewable hydrogen per year, avoiding some 250,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year, the same as the emissions that are generated by the internal combustion vehicle fleets of the cities of Huelva, Cádiz as well as Jaén. The hydrogen will promote the more sustainable production of fuels for road, aviation, and maritime transport along with the decarbonization of other industries.
As the company’s first digitally native facility, the new plant will employ state-of-the-art technological solutions that will help establish the growing hydrogen market and redefine energy engineering norms. The installation will feature a digital twin and a unified data and IoT platform from the design phase, setting the groundwork for more secure, more effective, and predictive operations.
The first stage of this largest renewable hydrogen project in Europe has been recognized by the European Union as a Project of Common Interest – PCI and has been awarded €304 million in financing from the Spanish Government through the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan, which is funded by the European Union via NextGenerationEU. The funding falls under the umbrella of the Renewable Hydrogen Valleys support program and will allow the development of 405 MW within the Andalusian Green Hydrogen Valley.
Apparently, the company has been taking major steps toward green hydrogen production. Moeve’s collaboration with Arcelor Mittal in terms of working in the sphere of steelmaking is one of them.
The leading green molecule energy hub of Europe
It is worth noting that Moeve is making a giant leap in its Positive Motion transformation strategy with Onuba. The company is going to invest €2.4 billion in Andalusia in projects for the energy transition, such as this green hydrogen plant and a new second-generation – 2G biofuels plant that will start producing sustainable aviation fuel – SAF as well as renewable HVO diesel in 2027. These projects will make Palos de la Frontera – Huelva the home to the largest green molecules energy center in Europe and an example of industrial change, with two of the four largest industrial projects presently under construction in Spain.
The existing largest renewable hydrogen energy project in Europe, the Andalusian Green Hydrogen Valley, will deliver 2 GW of electrolysis capacity in Moeve’s Energy Parks in Palos de la Frontera – Huelva and San Roque-Cádiz. The project aims to establish Andalusia as a strategic region to lead the production of green molecules, thanks to the abundance of land, outstanding port facilities, and climatic conditions that allow it to generate renewable electricity at substantially lower costs than in northern Europe. These advantages are contributing to the region’s evolution into an international center for hydrogen innovation and technological expertise.
Green molecules – a way to halve Europe’s dependence on energy
Green molecules make it possible to decarbonize hard-to-electrify sectors such as heavy industry and chemicals as well as long-distance transport. This strengthens Europe’s level of competitiveness and energy independence at a time when energy supply security has grown into a strategic priority. A recent report by Moeve and PwC found green molecules could halve Europe’s external power dependence by 2040.
The report said the growing role of green molecules, including renewable hydrogen, 2G biofuels, and biomethane, could substitute as much as 50% of the current fossil fuel demand in Europe by 2050 and also make up one-third of the continent’s energy mix in addition to cutting CO2 emissions by 22%.