Cummins Inc. and Iberdrola unveiled their plans for one of the world’s largest electrolyzer plants for the production of green hydrogen to be located in Castilla-La Mancha, Spain.

The companies have signed an agreement to accelerate the growth of business opportunities in the electrolyzer market of Iberia, promoting the green hydrogen value chain and making Spain a leader of this technology and industry. 

This investment in Spain comes on the heels of Iberdrola and Cummins’ decision to partner together on large-scale hydrogen production projects in Spain and Portugal.

A site selection search within the Guadalajara area of Castilla-La Mancha is currently underway for Cummins’ new €50 MM PEM electrolyzer plant that will house system assembly and testing for approximately 500 MW/year and will be scalable to more than 1 GW/year. The facility, which will initially be 22,000 m², is anticipated to open in 2023, creating 350 new jobs as production ramps up. Cummins is rapidly growing its capabilities to provide hydrogen technologies at scale, which is critical to the world’s green energy transition through the hydrogen economy. Cummins has deployed more than 600 electrolyzers in 100 countries globally.

As part of this alliance, the 230-MW green hydrogen project in Palos de la Frontera (Huelva, Andalusia, Spain) - that Iberdrola has planned for fertilizer producer Fertiberia - will become a benchmark for large electrolysis projects. Cummins will be the electrolyzer supplier for the Palos project and through the experience acquired in the project, Iberdrola and Cummins will jointly collaborate in the design of solutions for large electrolysis projects. Cummins and Iberdrola are also collaborating on a hydrogen refueling station in Barcelona, Spain with additional partnership and broader collaboration opportunities anticipated in the future. 

Iberdrola has submitted 53 hydrogen-related projects to the Next Generation EU program, which would activate investments of €2.5 B to achieve an annual production of 60,000 t/year. The green hydrogen production capacity under this plan would be equivalent to 20% of the national target (4GW installed capacity by 2030) and would ensure that around 25% of the hydrogen currently consumed by Spain would not generate any CO2 emissions. This and related Iberdrola hydrogen projects are anticipated to fuel economic and job growth, contributing to the creation of approximately 4,000 skilled jobs across 500 local suppliers.

In Castilla-La Mancha, Iberdrola operates 2,376 MW of renewable energy -wind power and photovoltaic-, which makes it the third autonomous community with the highest 'green' megawatts installed by Iberdrola in Spain. Recently, the company has completed three photovoltaic projects in the region, totaling 150 MW, and builds Puertollano photovoltaic plant (100 MW).