Sines, Portugal, Feb. 21, 2025 (Lusa) - The environmental association Zero believes that the Hytlantic consortium's green hydrogen production project, planned for the municipality of Sines, in the district of Setúbal, could jeopardise the efficient and sustainable use of renewable energy.
In a statement, Zero explains that it analysed the documents provided during the public consultation period for the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of the GreenH2atlantic project and associated projects, which ended on the 18th of this month, by the Hytlantic consortium, which brings together Bondalti, EDP, ENGIE, Galp, Martifer and Vestas.
"The project aims to install 100 MW [megawatts] of electrolysers on the perimeter of the old coal-fired thermal power station to produce green hydrogen, i.e. from the electrolysis of water using renewable energy such as solar and wind," it said.
According to the association, "33% of this hydrogen will be used in the Sines refinery itself, replacing less than 10% of the grey hydrogen produced from fossil gas currently consumed in its processes". The remaining "67% will be injected into the National Natural Gas Transport Network".
"Replacing grey hydrogen should be the priority in terms of the end use of the green hydrogen to be produced by the project," said the environmental association, adding that GreenH2atlantic “should therefore be more ambitious in this regard”.
In Zero's opinion, "only then [and] as the decarbonisation process progresses, should green hydrogen, which requires very high and inefficient consumption of renewable energy in its production, be directed to other uses", such as "the production of synthetic fuels for aviation and maritime transport, and, “only as a last resort”, should it “be injected into the gas grid”.
In the same note, the environmental association warns of "very worrying delays in drawing up the Green Industrial Strategy, in the Strategic Environmental Assessment of Renewable Acceleration Areas and in investment in electricity networks [which] are limiting the development of industrial projects that consume green hydrogen in Sines".
This situation leads to "the injection of large quantities of green hydrogen into the gas grid and the waste of huge amounts of renewable energy that could be used for more noble purposes," it said.
"Despite Portugal's favourable conditions," Zero argues that "rational use should be made of this [renewable] electricity in order to reduce the environmental, economic and social impact of infrastructure as much as possible."
It believes that "the establishment of Renewable Acceleration Areas, whose strategic environmental assessment is “extremely delayed”, is “fundamental” to “accelerate progress towards a 100% renewable electricity system” by 2032, making it “fundamental to attract to the development area” of the project “the industries that will receive the green hydrogen it produces” and favouring “those whose electrification seems more difficult”.
And it gives as an example "the green steel production project" planned for Sines, which could serve as an anchor for the wind, rail and other industries associated with the decarbonisation of the transport sector, it added.
The association also emphasised that it is "incomprehensible that the project does not foresee that one of the final destinations of green hydrogen will be the production of synthetic fuels for aviation and maritime transport".
"The European ReFuel EU regulation requires that by 2030, 1.2% of these fuels (e-SAF) must be incorporated into the jet fuel consumed by European airlines, and Sines is expected to be a key player in this regard, as it has all the fuel production and distribution infrastructures for Portuguese airports."
Of the "approximately 11 ktonnes [kilotonnes] of green hydrogen that the GreenH2atlantic project plans to produce, around 3.5 ktonnes will be used in the current refinery, while a substantial part of the remaining production could advantageously be used to produce these synthetic fuels, and the obstacles that hinder this option must be identified and removed," it concluded.
HYN/ADB // ADB.
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