In a small town in southern Spain, Europe's largest factory for hydrogen produced in a climate-friendly manner is to go into operation.The government in Madrid has ambitious plans - also for export.The city of Puertollano is around 250 kilometers south of Madrid.For decades, this region was characterized by hard coal, and the last mine was closed in the 1970s.Industrial plants were built that produced chemical products from natural gas.But the fossil fuels should now be over in Puertollano: Europe's largest factory for green hydrogen is to go into regular operation in the small Spanish town.In the first step, the energy company Iberdrola is investing 150 million euros to produce 3,000 tons of green hydrogen.Europe invests in renewable energy.Could hydrogen soon replace fossil fuels?14 groups of solar panels are already snuggled up against a chain of hills in Puertollano.This is where the whole process starts, says engineer Carlos Funez from Iberdrola.The modules can even use the light that the floor reflects, then the back is also light-sensitive.The cells deliver up to 100 megawatt hours of electricity, buffer batteries can store a fifth of this.After sunset, they feed electricity into an underground line for some time.It leads to an industrial area that can be seen from the small solar power plant.Green electricity for green hydrogen - the solar modules in Puertollano.Image: Reinhard SpiegelhauerAt the heart of the facility, hydrogen gas rushes into one of the eleven white, vertical tanks on the edge of the industrial area.These tanks are almost 25 meters high and have a diameter of almost three meters.Countless pipelines and manometers can be seen.Most come from a green and white painted building next door.The noise is deafening.In the small Spanish town of Puertollano, the electricity supplier Iberdrola has commissioned the largest "green" hydrogen plant for industrial use in Europe.According to the company, it is investing 150 million euros.In the plant, hydrogen is to be produced from 100 percent renewable energies.In this way, up to 48,000 tons of CO2 per year should be avoided in the future.Here, 16 large electrolysis cells split water into oxygen and hydrogen.With up to 20 megawatts of green electricity from the solar hills.This is a world record - no other system is as efficient."During the day, only part goes directly to the consumer. We compress the rest and store it in the tanks. This means we can also supply our customers at night," explains Carlos Funez.This buyer is Fertiberia, one of the largest fertilizer producers in Spain.The production halls for fertilizer production are right next to the green hydrogen plant.They are huge - as is the need for hydrogen.This would be technically possible - but not without effort and a certain security risk.Normally, hydrogen is obtained from natural gas.This process is called steam reforming.For the same amount of hydrogen, it needs twice as much water as the electrolysis plant.And a lot of greenhouse gas is produced.Green hydrogen is significantly more environmentally friendly: "Green hydrogen saves ten tons of carbon dioxide per ton of hydrogen. With this plant, we will avoid between ten and 30,000 tons of CO2 per year," says engineer Funez.The agreement with Canada, which is to deliver hydrogen to Germany from 2025, is being celebrated as a milestone.The facility in Puertollano is the largest of its kind in Europe.And thus covers just 10 percent of the fertilizer factory's needs.Nevertheless: Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez believes that Spain will be at the forefront when it comes to green hydrogen - as is already the case with wind power.Puertollano should be a prime example of this.In fact, Spain has many locational advantages, including a lot of space.In addition, citizens' initiatives against wind turbines or solar power plants are something extremely exotic in Spain.That is why the project to produce cheap green electricity for electrolysis is quite feasible in Spain.H2 is urgently needed for the energy transition.Claim and reality are still far apart.Does that also help the chemical industry in Germany?Maybe in the medium and long term.Spain can become the Saudi Arabia of green hydrogen, believes Iberdrola engineer Funez.A lot still has to happen before green hydrogen can be exported.It doesn't just need more and even larger plants, according to the engineer: "Europe is working on the 'European Hydrogen Backbone' - a hydrogen-capable pipeline network for the whole of Europe."But first, only a little bit of green hydrogen rushes into the fertilizer factory in Puertollano.The europamagazin reported on this topic in the first on August 21, 2022 at 12:45 p.m.