BP recently announced plans to invest up to 2 billion euros ($2.12 billion) in its Spanish refinery to produce low-carbon hydrogen and biofuels through the HyVal project.
The British energy giant aims to build a large facility to produce 2 GW of green hydrogen, which is produced by splitting water using renewable energy, to replace polluting hydrogen used to produce fuels at the Castellon refinery.
The project will also triple the production of biofuels at the refinery, reaching 650,000 tonnes per year by 2030, BP said.
The green hydrogen will also be used as a feedstock in biofuel production, including sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), as well as used in nearby industries such as ceramics and chemicals.
“We see Hyval as key to Castellón’s transformation and critical to supporting decarbonization across the Valencia region,” BP Business Development Director Andrés Guevara said.
The first phase of the HyVal project entails the construction of a 200 MW electrolysis plant at the Castellón refinery, which is planned to be operational in 2027.
The plant would produce up to 31,200 tonnes of green hydrogen per year, which would be used as feedstock in the refinery to generate SAF (Sustainable Aviation Fuel).
The second phase will expand the electrolysis plant of the HyVal project. It would supply green hydrogen to meet regional and national needs, with the remainder transported to Europe via the H2Med green hydrogen corridor in the Mediterranean.
Under the leadership of Chief Executive Officer Bernard Looney, BP wants to lower its oil and gas output by 25% while significantly increasing renewable power generation and low-carbon fuel production by 2030 in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
BP set a target to produce 0.5 million to 0.7 million tonnes a year of low-carbon hydrogen by 2030.
Last year, BP acquired a 40.5% stake in and begun to operate a solar, wind and green hydrogen project in Western Australia, aiming to supply green hydrogen from Australia to key markets including South Korea and Japan.