Spain allocates €100 million to two green hydrogen projects in Castilla-La Mancha
Spain’s MITECO will allocate about €100 million in EU recovery funds to green hydrogen projects led by Doña Urraca Energy and Repsol. The plants in Albacete and Puertollano will have combined electrolysis capacity of 42.27 MW.
Funding restores two projects left on the EU reserve list
Spain’s Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, known as MITECO, will allocate about €100 million to two renewable hydrogen production projects in Castilla-La Mancha. The facilities will be located in the provinces of Albacete and Ciudad Real and will be developed by Doña Urraca Energy and Repsol, according to El Español.
The two projects had secured sufficient scores in the third European Hydrogen Bank auction to be placed on its reserve list. They did not receive direct European Union support because the available budget had been exhausted. Spain subsequently brought them into a national funding round backed by Next Generation resources from the Recovery Plan.
Albacete and Puertollano plants total 42.27 MW
Doña Urraca Energy’s Quixotgen project in Albacete province will receive €50.2 million. The company plans to develop a plant with 30 MW of electrolysis capacity, making it the larger of the two Castilla-La Mancha installations by capacity.
Repsol’s P-HYNET project in Puertollano, Ciudad Real, will receive close to €49.8 million for a 12.27 MW installation. Together, Quixotgen and P-HYNET represent 42.27 MW of planned electrolysis capacity and slightly more than €100 million of public funding.
The awards form part of a €233.4 million allocation covering three renewable hydrogen projects in Castilla-La Mancha and Galicia. The third beneficiary is Repsol’s Atlas project in Arteixo, A Coruña, which will receive €133.4 million, the largest individual award among the three initiatives.
Subsidies linked to certified renewable output
The projects now have favorable final decisions and may receive subsidies for a maximum of ten years. Payments will depend on the volume of hydrogen certified as 100% renewable, linking public support to actual production rather than solely to the construction of electrolysis capacity. The grants come from a €440.5 million national call launched by the Institute for Energy Diversification and Saving, or IDAE, after the European auction budget ran out.
MITECO says the projects will help replace fossil fuels with hydrogen produced using renewable electricity, reducing carbon dioxide emissions from industrial activity. The ministry also identifies renewable hydrogen as a strategic technology for industrial sectors and heavy transport, as well as a way to strengthen Spain’s energy autonomy.
The latest funding adds to Spanish programs including H2 Pioneros, H2 Cadena de Valor, H2 Valles and Important Projects of Common European Interest. Through these instruments and the new awards, IDAE has allocated close to €3 billion in European funds to green hydrogen development in Spain. For project developers and potential industrial users, the decisive test will now be whether subsidized plants can reach certified output and secure sustained demand during the support period.
