Some 35 experts are working on a prototype electrolyzer for subsequent industrialization and marketing. Thereafter, the company plans to create 150 direct jobs and is preparing to deploy a cumulative investment of more than 70 million over the next eight years.
Nordex and the Navarre public company Sodena will invest 30 million euros in a new electrolyzer production plant for the generation of green hydrogen. In this way, the Nordex project will see the light of day in the region through public-private collaboration.
The CEO of Nordex (Acciona Windpower), José Luis Blanco, and the president of the Government of Navarra, María Chivite, presented the initiative at the Palace of Navarra. “Navarra aspires to lead this industry in an integral way, offering not only its production, but also the design of the technology to generate this new energy source,” said Chivite. For his part, Blanco highlighted the “ecosystem of innovation and entrepreneurship in the region” as one of the main reasons for installing the plant in the region.
Specifically, the agreement signed by Sodena and Nordex contemplates the start-up of a new plant precisely in Barasoain, where “electrolyzers for the production of green hydrogen will be designed, manufactured and marketed”.
Both the regional government, through Sodena, and the company will allocate 15 million euros respectively to this project over the next five years in order to “promote the development of a commercial prototype and its first industrial deployment”.
Firstly, it is planned that an engineering team of around 35 people will design and test the electrolyzers and, subsequently, start the industrial deployment and the development of a supply chain “which would include suppliers from the region”. Once the project is in the commercial phase and at full capacity, “it will employ more than 150 direct workers and will be prepared to deploy an accumulated investment of more than 70 million euros over the next eight years”.
The idea of installing an electrolyzer design and manufacturing plant in Navarra arose at the beginning of 2021, with a first contact between the Department of Economic and Business Development of the Government of Navarra, Sodena and Nordex. The latter firm’s commitment arose as a result of “the synergies existing between the manufacture of wind turbines and the production of green hydrogen from renewable sources, both in terms of logistics, warehousing, assembly and purchasing”.
The initiative has received various public grants and subsidies. For example, it obtained 11.6 million euros from the Important Project of Common European Interest (IPCEI), approved by the European Commission and called Hy2Tech.
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