The new Catalina green hydrogen project in Spain has selected Wood to be the project’s engineer. This project was first announced in 2022 by CIP who is working in partnership with Enagás, Naturgy, Fertiberia, and Vestas.

The project will operate through combining 1.5GW of wind and solar energy, which will go into powering a 500MW electrolyser and it is being operated by Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP), which is possible through its Copenhagen Infrastructure Energy Transition Fund I K/S.

Areas of the project such as technology selection, preliminary studies, front end engineering and design (FEED) will be taken care of by the global consulting and engineering company, who will lead as a technical authority on this project. The project will also have EPC tendering support.

Alongside the help and support provided by the global consulting and engineering company, now that the project has begun, Wood will work with the project to supply the engineering services. Wood will continue to collaborate with the Catalina project, throughout its entire developmental journey. Wood will make this possible through its consulting and projects teams that are based throughout Spain and the UK.

The purpose of producing this hydrogen is that it is intended to provide support to the local, regional and national industries where there is a demand for it. The hydrogen will be especially provided to the hard-to-abate sectors, such as the fertiliser and petrochemical industries, to enable more efficient decarbonisation in these areas. It is expected that the hydrogen produced from this plant provide an estimated 15% of Spain’s current demand.

This project will also help Spain achieve their present goal, which is laid out in its Energy and Climate Plan, of reaching 11GW of green hydrogen production by 2030.

Wood has been chosen for this project due to their past experience with similar projects, such as the work they conducted on the pre-FEED studies for SGN’s planned hydrogen network projects. These projects are based throughout Scotland and Southern England.

Wood’s President of Process and Chemicals Projects, Giuseppe Zuccaro, spoke about the project, saying it is “setting a global standard for large-scale green hydrogen production projects,” and that it will use the company’s strong engineering presence in the Spanish region.

Zuccaro commented, “Wood will bring that extensive expertise to the Catalina Project alongside our track record of delivering large-scale, high-complexity capital projects. As Owner’s Engineer, we will work on behalf our client as technical authority on the project as well as assisting with technology selection, project management and tendering.” He continued, “Catalina will expand our hydrogen portfolio and consolidate our reputation as a partner of choice for hydrogen production and industrial decarbonisation projects.”