EDP’s efforts on renewable hydrogen
13 Mar 2024
4 min

The renewable hydrogen market represents one of the growth axes for EDP, aiming to capture the growth of the sector due to the decarbonization objectives being set, supported by the expected increasing competitiveness over the course of this decade.

With the creation of the H2 Business Unit (H2BU), EDP aims to strengthen its ability to respond to the growing needs for this market, whether it is renewable electricity or renewable hydrogen itself, in a strategic and cross-cutting way that promotes investment in renewable energy.

The focus of H2BU is on developing opportunities for the uptake of renewable hydrogen in promising sectors such as the industries of steel, chemistry, refineries, and cements, as well as long-haul heavy transports. Aligned with EDP’s group footprint and the development of the market, the priority geographies are the United States and Europe, leveraging the existing renewable capabilities, active pipeline and market knowledge.

Since the establishment of the H2BU in 2021, EDP has pursued three goals that enable building a track-record on renewable hydrogen while planning for future growth: build operational experience; demonstrate EDP’s competitiveness; and create growth opportunities. Following this approach, EDP has currently one project in operation in Brazil and a project under construction in Portugal, which are supporting the development of skills to build H2 projects from a technical (e.g. electrolysis, BOP (balance of plant), storage), regulatory (e.g. licensing, permitting), and market (e.g. electricity sourcing) perspectives.

In addition, the company has several projects submitted and under evaluation for funding mechanisms, with seven having already secured public funding (including from the Portuguese and Spanish Recovery and Resilience Plans and the European Commission through two Innovation Funds) and three included in IPCEI “Hy2Use” (which is an acknowledgment by the European Commission of the importance of such projects for the European interest).

The projects being pursued by EDP are in the range of 5 to 150 MW, several of them having the potential to scale-up to more than 500 MW if market conditions accelerate. These projects target mainly local uses, but the larger project designs allow capturing future international market of renewable products, including H2 but also ammonia, methanol and sustainable aviation fuel.

1.5 GW
Target capacity by 2030
>500 MW
Projects in advanced stage of development
~ 200 M€
Public funding secured
3 IPCEI
Important Projects of Common European Interest
2 Innovation Funds
Projects selected in Spain and Portugal
6 RRP
Projects supported through the Recovery and Resilience Plans

“The projects being developed by EDP range from 5 to 150 MW, with several of them having the potential to grow to over 500 MW”

edp key interests
EDP’s projects
EDP has been developing different types of projects, leveraging on its distinctive capabilities and aiming to create knowledge about different project configurations and business models.
R&D Projects
Renewable hydrogen hubs
Co-location of renewables and hydrogen production
Dedicated hydrogen production
R&D Projects
R&D projects are an excellent approach to create knowledge in developing and operating hydrogen projects as well as testing innovative technologies.
Currently, EDP has one R&D project built in Pecém, Brazil, which is a 1.25 MW PEM electrolyzer supplied by a 3 MW PV plant.
The hydrogen produced from this facility has recently been the first in South America to be certified as renewable.
Similarly, a project of 1.25 MW is currently being built in Carregado, Portugal, which will enable the testing of hydrogen co-combustion with natural gas for power production in a combined cycle.
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Renewable hydrogen hubs
The development of renewable hydrogen hubs on the sites of EDP’s coal power plants is an opportunity being explored to ensure a just transition for those regions.
Leveraging on existing infrastructure and skilled human resources, EDP aims to supply renewable hydrogen to local industries, heavy transport and explore export opportunities.
Examples of the hubs being developed by EDP are the 100 MW GreenH2Atlantic project in Sines, Portugal, the 130 MW Green H2 Los Barrios project in Algeciras, Spain, and the 150 MW Asturias H2 Valley in Aboño, Spain.
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Co-location of renewables and hydrogen production
The direct connection between renewable electricity capacity and electrolyzers opens the opportunity to develop optimized systems that may lead to cost reductions, avoidance of grid fees and open a new avenue to create value to renewable assets.
However, several challenges remain on the valuing of the benefits that may be achieved and potential operation challenges that may appear.
Currently, EDP is exploring how the co-location of electrolyzers with renewable assets may support the business case of existing renewable assets and offer a new route to market for the development of new renewables
that is not dependent on the development of electricity networks.
Dedicated hydrogen production
While hydrogen is already being used at scale around the global, it is mainly focused on two applications: refineries and ammonia production.
In order to achieve decarbonization, hydrogen will have to be an alternative for several energy uses, from industry to transport, which need to create the knowledge on how to adapt their technological systems but also understand
the implications for human resources training, safety procedures and operational conditions.
EDP is currently exploring projects with industrial offtakers to enable the creation of this knowledge in a controlled and incremental manner.
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