The meeting of the Use in Industry Vertical of the BH2C reports on the progress made in the use of hydrogen to drive the decarbonisation of different sectors of industry.
The 4th meeting of the Use in Industry Vertical of the BH2C was held on Wednesday, 9 October, at the EIC - Energy Intelligence Center. The meeting of the Vertical, led by Sarralle and Sener, brought together 47 people from 29 member organisations.
In the course of the meeting, Telmo Chávarri, from Sener, reported on the latest developments of the projects of the Vertical, as well as the most relevant regulatory aspects for the sector in the last few months. In addition, Lucía Alcibar, from EDP, presented the pioneering ‘Asturias H2 Valley’ initiative, the aim of which is to produce and supply renewable hydrogen with a view to decarbonising the economy of the Asturias region. This project proposes to transform the existing Aboño coal-fired power plant into a green hydrogen plant, with an electrolysis capacity of 150 megawatts (MW).
The meeting also featured three Basque initiatives to promote the decarbonisation of industry through the use of hydrogen. Nora Fernández, from Tecnalia, presented the BIH4C (Basque Industrial Hub for Circularity), an initiative to transform existing industrial areas by identifying and tapping into energy synergies, the efficient use of resources and the development and demonstration of innovative technologies. These include, amongst others, the oxy-combustion of hydrogen in the steel industry, potentially from the oxygen and hydrogen produced by electrolysis in the refining sector; the capture of CO2 in the lime industry and its use to produce methane and, in the future, synthetic fuels in the refining sector; and the carbonation of steel slag using the CO2 captured in the lime industry, for the production of construction materials in the cement industry. Secondly, David Simó, from Fagor Ederlan, as part of the Hazitek H2EAT project, proposed innovative technological solutions to reduce the carbon footprint of cast aluminium products for the automotive sector by using green hydrogen as an alternative to the fossil fuels currently used in the process. Finally, Itsaso Auzmendi, from Sarralle, updated those present on the progress made to date in the Hazitek H2Integra project, mainly based on the deployment of H2 in steelmaking heating equipment, the use of H2 in aluminium packaging manufacturing plants, and the development of a compact and portable H2 production unit to supply hydrogen during the testing and launching phases.
The session concluded with a presentation by David Sierra, from AFRY, who shared lessons learned from Power-to-X projects and details of a FEED study they are working on to deploy 700MW of electrolysis, with a view to exploring different solutions and alternatives to produce fossil-free steel in Finland.
