HyChem invests €12 million to produce over 2,000 tonnes of green hydrogen on the outskirts of Lisbon
At the moment, the company already has an installed capacity of 1700 tonnes of hydrogen (still obtained from non-renewable sources) and a production of 1000 tonnes per year.
HyChem, and its shareholder Green Aqua Company, announced on Friday an investment of €5 million in the construction of a solar power plant (it will be ready by the end of summer), which in the span of 18 months will grow from 2 MW to 10 MW – whose renewable energy will serve, in the future, to produce green hydrogen.
“This project is based on the green hydrogen megaproject that the Portuguese government wants to see operating in Sines,” the company announced at an event at the Póvoa de Santa Iria chemical industrial complex that was attended by the Minister of the Environment and Climate Action, Matos Fernandes, and the Secretary of State for Energy, João Galamba.
At the moment, the company already has an installed capacity of 1700 tonnes of hydrogen (still obtained from non-renewable sources) and a production of 1000 tonnes per year. “We will add the green [to hydrogen] as soon as the solar plant kicks off,” one of HyChem’s officials explained to the minister during the visit.
With the new green hydrogen projects, production could more than double to 2,200 tonnes per year. The aim is for this renewable gas to be used in low carbon mobility and injected into the natural gas network.
Within six months the pilot project of a hydrogen vehicle refuelling station (produced from biogas) developed by Dourogás will also start on site, CEO Nuno Moreira told ECO/Capital Verde.
Besides solar energy, the company is also studying another €8 million investment in a wind farm in Lousã, near the industrial complex, which will have an installed capacity of 10.5 MWp. Together, the two types of energy – solar and wind – will ensure 33% of the company’s energy needs.
The investment is part of the project to develop a set of low-carbon mobility solutions called Move2lowC, which provides for a total investment of €12 million (with support from the European Union) and brings together 22 partners from industry, major fuel consumers (including TAP) and scientific and technological entities.
