European Commission selects EDP projects for European Union Innovation Funds

The Commission selected GreenH2Atlantic, which will install around 100 MW of electrolyzers in Sines, and Asturias H2 Valley, which will transform Spain’s Aboño plant and include 150 MW of electrolyzers. The Innovation Fund, which is highly competitive, only selected 13 projects in the Industry Electrification and Hydrogen category.

Two of EDP’s main green hydrogen initiatives, a key vector for the energy transition, have been selected by the European Commission to receive funding from the European Union Innovation Funds: The GreenH2Atlantic project, to be developed in Sines (Portugal), and the Asturias H2 Valley plan (in Spain). The European Commission thus gives a new seal of quality to EDP’s projects, announcing that they will receive funding from this program created to support the implementation of innovative technologies, processes and products that will contribute to the European Union’s decarbonization commitments.

In Portugal, through HYTLANTIC, EDP is coordinating the GreenH2Atlantic project, which will transform the Sines thermal power plant into a green hydrogen production plant using solar and wind energy, with the installation of a 100 MW electrolyzer. EDP leads a consortium of 13 entities that will develop this project, which had previously been selected with a support of 30 million euros from Horizon 2020 – Green Deal to demonstrate the viability of green hydrogen.

In Spain, the Asturias Green Hydrogen Valley, designed by EDP for the former Aboño thermal power plant, will also receive funding from the European Union’s Innovation Fund. EDP’s Asturias Green Hydrogen Valley thus receives funding from all four European mechanisms, confirming its strategic role in the energy transition. The European Commission considers it an Important Project of Common European Interest (IPCEI Hy2Use). In addition, Asturias H2 Valley will be one of the initiatives to receive support from the IDAE (Spanish Institute for Diversification and Energy Saving) under the PERTE for Renewable Energy, Renewable Hydrogen and Storage (ERHA). These grants, corresponding to the Pioneer Projects and Value Chain programs, amount to EUR 29.9 million.

With these projects, EDP accelerates the achievement of its ambition to abandon coal-fired generation by 2025, transforming its thermal power plants into “green hubs” linked to four energy axes: green hydrogen, energy storage, renewables and electricity system flexibility.
EDP will develop two of the 13 projects selected by the European Commission in the Electrification of Industry and Hydrogen category. Across all categories, the Commission has awarded funding from the Innovation Fund to 41 large-scale technology projects, for a total of 239 applications. This is one of the largest funding programs for the development of innovative and CO2 reduction-oriented technologies. The selected projects are spread across 15 European countries: Spain, Portugal, Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Norway. All are expected to be operational by 2030 and have the potential to avoid 221 million tons of CO₂ emissions in the first ten years of operation.