Wednesday, 20 January 2021. Duro Felguera, a Spanish company specializing in the delivery of turnkey projects and the provision of specialized services in the energy, mining & handling and oil & gas sectors, has signed an agreement with Hunosa and Nortegas to deliver green hydrogen projects in the central area of Asturias. The projects will focus on the production, storage, transport, injection into the natural gas network and mobile use of this renewable gas.
Duro Felguera and Hunosa have been working for some time on defining projects to boost the socio-economic fabric of the regions affected by the end of mining activity, and at the same time, to provide efficient energy solutions based on the circular economy, in line with the Just Transition Strategy proposed by the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO in Spanish). With these starting premises, the incorporation of partners covering aspects such as network injection and mobility was considered a key factor. NORTEGAS joined in to contribute its knowledge of gas network management.
One of the first results of this agreement is that the companies have presented several different projects for the Expression of Interest launched by the Ministry on 19 December, for production plants, storage, transport, injection into the natural gas network and mobile use in the mining basin area, taking into account the most suitable points for injection into the Nortegas network and the logistics for the consumption of the hydrogen produced, both for transport and industrial use.
The projects will be developed and scaled up in line with the evolution of the demand for this renewable gas foreseen in the Ministry’s Hydrogen Roadmap. Several hydrogen consumers, including transport companies, have already confirmed their interest in the projects and in the potential consumption of the hydrogen produced.
While the projects were being drawn up, meetings were held with different interest groups, including the University of Oviedo, a key player, as in the route set out by the Ministry, hydrogen technologies have to be studied at a university degree level and at intermediate and higher level vocational training cycles and research. There will thus be a teaching and research aspect, fundamentally in the project that will be installed in the first phase.
In addition, the projects are supported by the Spanish Hydrogen Association and the National Hydrogen Centre, a national reference centre for research, aimed at promoting scientific and technological research into hydrogen and fuel cell technologies.
Duro Felguera, Hunosa and Nortegas are also actively working on the Asturias Hydrogen Board, created by the Directorate of Energy, Mines and Reactivation and the Asturian Energy Foundation (FAEN in Spanish), showing their commitment to promoting this energy vector for the transformation of the region.