MIBGAS launched the first Iberian renewable H₂ price index, with a price of 5.85 €/kg (148.36 €/MWh). The publication of this new price signal, which will be updated weekly, is made on the website, created to host all MIBGAS actions in the field of renewable gases.

The working group created earlier this year and led by MIBGAS has participated in the development of the methodology to calculate a reference price for renewable H₂ that reflects a reliable, robust, non-manipulable and representative cost-based signal.

The MIBGAS IBHYX reflects the production cost of renewable H₂, that is, the minimum price at which a producer is willing to sell to achieve the expected profitability. In other words, the price signal of the offer (ask) of renewable H₂ produced in the Iberian Peninsula in a typical electrolysis plant. This signal represents the levelized cost of producing renewable H₂ in accordance with the criteria established in the European Union’s delegated acts of the for the production of renewable fuel of non-biological origin (RFNBO) H₂.

The methodology employed is based on production costs, focusing initially on defining and unifying criteria to determine the production price of this energy vector in Iberia, as represented by the MIBGAS IBHYX index. The next step will be to determine the demand price (bid), which reflects the price an off-taker is willing to pay for renewable H₂. The gap or differential between these two prices will indicate the level of liquidity in this nascent market.

Competitive advantage of the Iberian Peninsula. MIBGAS is firmly committed to advancing the development of the renewable gases market and, specifically, renewable H₂, which is currently almost non-existent. For this reason, it created a working group at the beginning of this year to develop the necessary tasks for the definition of the renewable H₂ price index in Iberia, due to the advantage that the territory has for being a competitive renewable energy producer. The result of this work is the MIBGAS IBHYX index.

The group is composed of Spanish and Portuguese stakeholders involved in the H₂ value chain, including producers, retailers, consumers, shippers, academic institutions and representatives of organizations such as the National Commission for Markets and Competition (CNMC), the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge and the Spanish Institute for the Diversification and Saving of Energy (IDAE).

This group has met in five sessions where the definition of a model plant representative of a renewable H₂ production project in the Iberian Peninsula, all its parameters, as well as the methodology for calculating the levelized cost of H₂ (LCOH) model, built from the costs and revenues necessary to obtain a certain return on investment in the defined model plant, have been the focus of the different meetings.

The calculation model adopted by MIBGAS to obtain the LCOH is more advanced than the traditional calculation model as it also contemplates all the financial variables associated with the project of the reference H₂ production plant, as well as those related to the cost of renewable electricity production through the dedicated plant and the one taken from the grid, necessary to calculate the cost of renewable electricity. Detailed information on the adopted model can be found in the microsite developed by MIBGAS.

MIBGAS has developed a microsite along with a unique brand identity that will be used in its renewable gases initiatives. The website will include information about renewable gases and energy efficiency. The MIBGAS IBHYX index, which represents the levelized cost of renewable H₂ production, will be published weekly on the microsite, as well as the calculation methodology, the evolution of the index and a downloadable file with the historical data.

Additionally, it provides information on applicable regulations and the services MIBGAS offers related to the trading of renewable gases and energy efficiency.