King Felipe VI has vindicated this Tuesday the collaboration and the establishment of alliances between European countries to develop a green hydrogen market, an energy vector that has a key role in the transition towards a low-carbon economy, and that is a clear commitment of the Spanish Government. “The message that comes out of Europe is loud and clear: the development of the 21st century will depend on, and will be driven by, renewables,” said the head of state, during a lunch with King William of the Netherlands, held in the Royal Botanical Garden of Madrid.
The meeting between the two monarchs took place on the occasion of the celebration of the 375th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between their two countries, but Guillermo is also in Spain to promote, together with Felipe VI, the green hydrogen corridor between Spain and his country .
In his speech, the King defended the need for an energy transition based on innovative technologies such as hydrogen, which is not in itself an energy source but a vector, that is, a medium that allows energy to be stored and released when and where it is need.
“Hydrogen already plays a leading role in our energy system. It is a very versatile and key energy vector for the decarbonization of our economies, industries and transport,” said Felipe VI, who stressed that the challenge now is that this hydrogen ” be 100% renewable.
This commitment to renewable hydrogen “responds to both environmental and strategic implications”, defended the King. “In these times of uncertainty and volatility, also in the energy sector, it is necessary to develop an energy transition that enhances our energy autonomy without creating new technological and material dependencies”, he assured.
To take advantage of the full potential of hydrogen, it is necessary, he has stated, to “address challenges” technological and economic such as mass production and efficient storage, as well as “the need to develop an adequate distribution infrastructure to allow transportation and supply” to national and international level.
For this, “it is essential to establish alliances between partner countries”, defended Felipe VI, who cited the development of the H2MED project promoted by Spain, Portugal, France and Germany, as well as the memorandum of understanding signed in February between Spain and the Netherlands signed to boost the green hydrogen industry. “These initiatives fully align us with European policies and objectives”, he stressed.
King Guillermo has also highlighted, in his speech, the great commitment that his country has made for green hydrogen, and has defended that governments, companies and science join forces and shape a common vision in this regard.
In this sense, he recalled that European cooperation began with energy, with an agreement on coal and steel, for which he considered it “fascinating” to see that energy once again plays a key role, although the sources are now the sun and the wind.
In addition, he explained that his country admires Spain’s leadership in the transition to clean energy and its pioneering role in this sector. “The Spanish sun will soon warm the cold north and help our industry and transport sectors go green,” she said.
Before lunch, the Dutch monarch visited Iberdrola’s green hydrogen plant in Puertollano (Ciudad Real), which will play a prominent role in establishing the green hydrogen maritime corridor between Spain and the Netherlands. Iberdrola’s Chairman, Ignacio Sánchez Galán, received Guillermo at the plant, coinciding with the signing of several agreements between the company, ACE Terminal and Hynetwork Services, as reported by Iberdrola.
Thanks to these agreements, plans to develop a maritime corridor between Spain and the Netherlands are one step closer. The objective is to establish this corridor as soon as possible, which guarantees the completion of the logistics chain to decarbonize the industry in northern Europe.
