Madrid will open Spain’s first plant producing green hydrogen from recycled water in 2024. The plant, located in a water treatment plant, uses electrolysis to simultaneously separate oxygen and purify water.
Madrid plans to open Spain’s first green hydrogen plant using recycled water. The plant will start operating in 2024 at the Arroyo Culebro Cuenca Media Alta wastewater treatment plant in Pinto. It will be built by Canal de Isabel II, a water supply company owned by the city of Madrid.
The project, which has an initial capacity of around 80,000 kilograms of hydrogen per year, stands out for several reasons. First, hydrogen is produced from reclaimed water and further processed by electrolysis. The Madrid government announced that it will become Spain’s largest green hydrogen production plant using recycled water.
It also combines two renewable technologies – solar production and biogas co-production, which uses the waste from the treatment plant itself. The oxygen produced during electrolysis also enhances wastewater treatment, which improves the plant’s ability to handle the pollution caused by 1.2 million inhabitants.
By implementing tertiary treatment, Canal de Isabel II supplies the necessary water to the electrolyser and the 12 liters of water needed to produce 1 kilogram of hydrogen. The project’s investment is 7.3 million euros ($7.8 million), and it is expected to be completed in the next 13 months.
In addition, the wastewater treatment plant can produce up to 30 million liters of ordinary recycled water per day. It uses ultrafiltration membranes and reverse osmosis for watering green areas or cleaning streets, for example.
