Hunosa, which happens to be the Spanish state-owned miner, has gone on to secure an environmental clearance for the €18m green hydrogen project of Asturias, based at Fondón Mine situated in Langreo.
Notably, the regional government went on to publish the strategic environmental report recently, thereby confirming the scheme being viable and enabling the Mine-to-H2 initiative to go ahead and advance to the next phase of permission.
Developed with Alsa, Hyrem, the University of Oviedo, and Duro Felguera, as well as Glowny Instytut Gornictwa from Poland, the plant is going to reuse water discharged from the old coal mine and thereafter integrate a nearby photovoltaic facility so as to supply the renewable electricity.
It is well to be noted that 50% of the funding of the project, which is around €9m, is going to come from the Research Fund for Coal and Steel of the EU, therefore highlighting its significance to the coal transition regions.
According to Hunosa, this circular economy hydrogen project of Asturias is focused on sustainable mobility in central region which happens to contribute to the decarbonization of certain major sectors. The facility is designed so as to supply hydrogen in terms of transport as well as industry and simultaneously showcase the repurposing in terms of mining heritage for the production of clean energy.
Interestingly, the construction happens to be tied to strict EU funding timelines, with the completion targeted for June 2027. The Fondón Well, which was once a symbol of the coal industry of Asturias, has already been reconfigured in order to host a geothermal as well as biomass heating network, the Mining Rescue Brigade in Spain, and the Hunosa Historical Archive. The fact is that the addition of hydrogen production further goes on to cement its role as a testbed when it comes to industrial transition in a region which has for long been dependent on fossil fuels.