The new GREEN HYSLAND project was officially launched last week. This will help to restart economic growth and bring new skilled jobs to Majorca, building on lessons learned from previous FCH JU projects including BIG HIT in Orkney and HEAVENN in the Northern Netherlands. The project consortium, led by Enagás, features 30 public and private partners from 9 EU countries as well as Chile and Morocco, including several partners from the BIG HIT project in Orkney.
The Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH JU), a public-private partnership of the European Commission, has provided the GREEN HYSLAND project an EU grant of €10 million, and the total expected investment of the project is €50 million including public and private co-funding. The forward-thinking project team comprises private companies, municipalities and research organisations from across Europe, with SHFCA members Calvera, EMEC, and Enercy, part of SHFCA member Systeng Consulting.
SHFCA member Enercy B.V/Systeng, an expert consultancy in green hydrogen and development of local hydrogen hub ecosystems, was commissioned to undertake the project application by Enagás, the Spanish Transmission System Operator (TSO). Enercy and HyEnergy undertook the planning, development, writing and delivery of the successful GREEN HYSLAND funding application over a 4-month intensive collaboration period with Enagás.
This new hydrogen initiative will help to make Majorca’s energy supply greener and revive a local economy that has been affected by the Covid crisis. GREEN HYSLAND aligns closely with the July 2020 EU Hydrogen Strategy and will be the first Southern European Hydrogen Hub, creating an integrated ‘green hydrogen ecosystem’ in the Balearic Islands, off the east coast of Spain.
GREEN HYSLAND will include deployment of green hydrogen across the entire value chain in the island of Majorca, including green hydrogen production for local distribution with gas pipelines and by road trailers to multiple end-users.
Hydrogen demand applications will include the fuel supply to a fleet of municipal buses and fuel cell rental vehicles, the generation of heat and power for commercial and public buildings, the supply of auxiliary power for port operations and the creation of a hydrogen refuelling station for cars and buses. The project also includes green hydrogen injection into the island's gas pipeline network to help decarbonise the local gas supply.
The GREEN HYSLAND launch follows exactly a year after Enercy and HyEnergy, in partnership with the New Energy Coalition, successfully developed and secured €20 million European funding for the Dutch HEAVENN project, the first European Hydrogen Valley project to be funded by the FCH JU, and another milestone project for promoting the widespread use of green hydrogen. The €10 million funding granted to GREEN HYSLAND is the largest grant that the FCH JU has ever attributed to a Mediterranean country for the deployment of green hydrogen.
Katharina Bouchaar, Enercy’s Managing Director said “We are excited to help bring green hydrogen to Mallorca through GREEN HYSLAND. Building upon the success of the HEAVENN project, the strong partnership we developed with HyEnergy and Enagás on this project has allowed us to successfully secure EU funding for another Hydrogen Valley in Europe. We are looking forward to helping the project succeed and develop the regional Roadmap for sustainable hydrogen in the Balearic Islands.”
Jesus-Manuel Gil of Enagas added “GREEN HYSLAND is a project which will show Europe what Mallorca and Spain can contribute to the Energy Transition and at the same time it will put our country on the global hydrogen map. We are looking forward to coordinating and delivering this exciting project in partnership with Enercy, HyEnergy and the rest of the GREEN HYSLAND consortium.”
Majorca and Spain are now in a good position to pick up the ‘Hydrogen Territories’ baton from Orkney, and for the GREEN HYSLAND hub to develop local expertise and new employment opportunities in the sustainable energy sector on the Balearic island, which will come as a breath of fresh air to the hard-hit economy of Majorca.
GREEN HYSLAND and HEAVENN projects will also feature in the Hydrogen Territories Platform webinar on Tuesday 23rd March from 15:00-16:00 CET.