Galp, EDP exit Portugal Sines hydrogen cluster project

Portugal's two largest energy companies, Galp and EDP, have decided not to participate in the government's flagship project to develop a green hydrogen cluster in the city of Sines and will instead pursue their own hydrogen strategies.

"We are stepping out of H2Sines, the consortium to deliver hydrogen to the Netherlands. Our main focus is supplying hydrogen for our Sines [oil] refinery," Galp's chief executive Andy Brown said.

"EDP considers that its future green hydrogen investments should be directed at other projects," the utility said.

The Portuguese government placed Sines, which is home to Portugal's largest deep-water port, at the centre of the national EN-H2 hydrogen strategy, it announced last year, and has since included the planned H2Sines cluster in a collaboration accord with the Netherlands to jointly develop the two countries' hydrogen sectors.

Galp plans to develop 100MW of electrolysers and the solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity to power them in Sines by 2025, then expand this capacity over the rest of the decade to reach 600MW-1GW of electrolysers "as business cases are proven", according to the firm's strategic plan to 2025.

The green hydrogen produced will contribute to Galp's plans to decarbonise its 220,000 b/d Sines refinery by substituting the grey hydrogen developed from fossil fuels that feeds units at the complex, as well as supplying the adjacent 270,000 t/yr advanced biofuels plant the firm plans to bring on stream by 2025.

Galp does not rule out taking part in future government initiatives to develop the hydrogen sector in Portugal, Brown said.

EDP announced in February that it has created business unit H2BU to invest in and develop green hydrogen and energy storage solutions and is analysing some 20 related projects in the countries it operates in, it said.

By Jonathan Gleave