The plans for the green hydrogen cluster of the Valencia region (HyVal) at bp’s Castellón refinery were launched in February 2023. Led by bp, this public-private collaborative initiative is expected to play an instrumental role in decarbonizing the operations of the Castellón refinery. Its transformation – including green hydrogen, biofuels and renewable energy – could see bp invest a total of up to €2 billion in Castellón by 2030.
Green hydrogen will support decarbonization of the refinery’s operations, replacing its current use of ‘grey’ hydrogen generated from natural gas. Its production of biofuels is expected to increase three-fold, to 650,000 tonnes a year by 2030. Green hydrogen will also be used as a feedstock in biofuel production, specifically of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).
In addition to being used by bp at the refinery, the green hydrogen produced will also be used in key hard-to-abate industries in the Valencia region, such as the ceramic industry, replacing the natural gas used in their processes, chemical industries for the production of green ammonia and in heavy transport.
Hydrogen production at the Castellón refinery is to be developed in phases. The first phase, anticipated to be operational in 2027, will involve the installation of an electrolysis plant with at least 200 MW capacity. This initial stage would be expected to produce up to 31,200 tonnes of green hydrogen per year. The use of this green hydrogen to replace natural gas is estimated to be able to avoid more than 300,000 tonnes of CO₂ emissions per year when used first in the refinery and then in thermo-intensive industries and heavy transport. This green hydrogen will also be used as a feedstock for the production of SAF at the refinery.
In the second phase, which could be completed in 2030, the electrolysis plant would be expanded to reach a capacity of up to 2 GW of net installed power.
