On the road to decarbonising economic activity and gradually replacing fossil fuel-generated energy with energy obtained from renewable sources, hydrogen is set to play an important role, especially in energy-intensive activities and in certain areas of transport that are difficult to electrify. This transition, still at a fledgling stage, must overcome various challenges in areas such as hydrogen storage and transport, issues in which ports with infrastructure and experience in energy logistics and distribution are set to play a key role.
In this context, Orkestra – Basque Institute of Competitiveness has produced a report entitled “The potential of the Port of Bilbao in hydrogen transport”, which analyses the capabilities and opportunities of the Port of Bilbao in the deployment of green hydrogen value chains.
The report highlights the presence in the port's hinterland of economic sectors that are potential consumers of hydrogen, such as refining, the chemical industry, ammonia and methanol production, steel, foundry and cement, all of which are hard-to-abate activities with high energy demands and in which hydrogen produced from the electrolysis of water using renewable energy would reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
This proximity to potential demand and the existence of transport and storage infrastructure for certain H₂ carriers currently available in the port and/or its surroundings make Bilbao a key player in the initial phase of rolling out green hydrogen consumption and hydrogen-derived products designed to meet the demand of industry in its hinterland.
Furthermore, in the event of surplus production, the study also highlights Bilbao's connectivity as a lever for the development of renewable hydrogen corridors, in line with the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the Bilbao Port Authority and the ports of Amsterdam and Duisburg for the export of renewable hydrogen between the Basque Country and central continental Europe.
Another aspect highlighted in the report is the leveraging of existing infrastructure in the port environment to experiment with new value chains, using this infrastructure as a starting point for hydrogen distribution and, at the same time, playing an important role in the social acceptance of the deployment of hydrogen and/or its carriers.
According to the study, Bilbao has the potential to become a hydrogen logistics hub due to its connection to potential hydrogen supply and demand points by land and sea, as well as the availability of currently existing logistics infrastructure (solid, liquid and LNG bulk terminals).
Finally, the report highlights the need to reflect on the opportunity for the Port of Bilbao to become a living lab for green hydrogen demonstration projects. This potential is rooted, amongst other things, in the experience gained from the current synthetic fuels project being rolled out in the Port, the electrolyser projects being taken forward in the surrounding area and the international agreements reached for the development of a European renewable hydrogen corridor connecting different ports.
Source: The Port of Bilbao