The Diplomat
King Felipe VI of Spain and King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands presided yesterday in Algeciras the institutional act of presentation of the first green hydrogen maritime corridor between the ports of Algeciras and Rotterdam.
The event took place in the framework of the two-day working visit of the Dutch sovereign to Spain with the aim of strengthening the position of the two countries as pioneering partners in the green transition. To this end, Willem-Alexander visited on Tuesday Iberdrola’s hydrogen plant and the National Hydrogen Center, both in Puertollano (Ciudad Real).
Upon their arrival at the Algeciras port terminal, the two monarchs were received by the President of the Andalusian Regional Government, Juan Manuel Moreno; the Government Delegate in the Autonomous Community of Andalusia, Pedro Fernández Peñalver; the Mayor of Algeciras, José Ignacio Landaluce; and the CEO of CEPSA, Maarten Wetselaar. Among those attending the ceremony were the Third Vice-President of the Government and Minister for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, Teresa Ribera, and the Minister for Climate and Energy Policy of the Netherlands, Rob Jetten.
CEPSA and the Port of Rotterdam will work together to establish the first green hydrogen corridor between southern and northern Europe, specifically between two of the continent’s main ports, Rotterdam and Algeciras.
The port of Algeciras is the first in Spain, the fourth in Europe and an important trade route between Europe and Asia. The future demand for green hydrogen in northwest Europe exceeds the capacity that can be produced locally from sustainable sources, hence the need to import green hydrogen on a large scale. For this reason, the objective of this corridor is to export the hydrogen produced in the San Roque Energy Park, located near the Bay of Algeciras, through energy carriers such as ammonia or methanol, to Rotterdam.
Rotterdam is the most important energy port in Europe, handling 13% of European energy demand. With the support of the Dutch Government, and as part of Rotterdam’s energy transition plans, the Port Authority and numerous private companies present in the port area are developing the infrastructure and facilities necessary for the import of green hydrogen and its distribution in northwest Europe, connecting large industrial centers in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany by means of hydroducts.
This supply of green fuels will contribute to decarbonizing industry and shipping in the Bay of Algeciras and Rotterdam, while supporting the European Union’s RePowerEU strategy to ensure Europe’s energy security and independence and stimulate clean energy production.
In its Positive Motion strategy, CEPSA aims to lead green hydrogen production in Spain and Portugal by 2030, with a production capacity of two GW at its San Roque (located near Algeciras) and Huelva Energy Parks, half the current target set by the Spanish government. To generate the renewable energy needed for its production, CEPSA will develop a portfolio of seven GW of renewable, wind and solar projects, in addition to working hand in hand with other renewable energy producers in Andalusia to promote the integration of these new plants into the electricity system.
During his first day in Spain, in addition to the visits to Puertollano, the King of the Netherlands was entertained by Felipe VI with a lunch at the Royal Botanical Garden, in Madrid, on the occasion of the celebration of the 375th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Kingdoms of the Netherlands and Spain.
During his speech, Felipe VI warned of the need to promote green hydrogen to favor Europe’s energy autonomy “in these times of uncertainty and volatility”. Therefore, he said that “it is essential to establish alliances between partner countries” and gave as an example the Memorandum of Understanding signed on February 20 by Teresa Ribera and Rob Jetten to jointly promote the renewable hydrogen industry. For his part, Willem-Alexander said that “the Netherlands admires the leading role that Spain is playing in the transition to clean energy” and said that, thanks to this green corridor, “the Spanish sun will soon heat the cold north and help our industry and the transport sector to be greener”.
