The use of Hydrogen in the Basque Industry, financeable by the EVE
Hydrogen use in industry and buildings in the Basque Country that aims to replace the consumption of fossil fuels will be financed by the Basque Energy Entity (EVE) within the Program of aid for investments in energy efficiency, renewable energies, transport and efficient mobility.
The aforementioned program has a total economic endowment worth €4,000,000, and the period for submitting aid applications has already opened on June 9, 2022, to end on October 31, 2022.
This call consists of 6 aid subprograms for the execution of investments, which includes Hydrogen Use and Energy Efficiency in SMEs in the industrial sector as the two star projects, with a total of one million euros for each of these subprograms. The remaining sub-programs, subsidized with a total line of 500,000 euros, correspond to Vertical surveys (closed/open circuit), new connections in District Heating, Implementation of investments to implement comprehensive energy demand management systems (SIGED), Energy savings in vertical mobility, promotion of bicycles and natural gas supply facilities, and Renovation of high-efficiency equipment in the hospitality sector, through the renovation of high-energy-efficiency equipment in hotels, restaurants and cafes –HORECA-.
Eligible Energy Efficiency Actions
Eligible actions will be the Energy Efficiency actions carried out in the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country that correspond, respectively, to the following aid subprograms:
Subprogram 1 – Making investments for the use of hydrogen in industry and buildings, to replace fossil fuel consumption.
Subprogram 2 – Carrying out investments in energy efficiency in SMEs in the industrial sector, leading to a reduction in energy consumption. Subprogram 3 – Carrying out vertical surveys (closed/open circuit) for use by means of heat pumps, as well as new connections and substations of exchange in heat networks and new facilities for the use of residual heat.
Subprogram 4 – Carrying out investments for the implementation of comprehensive energy demand management systems.
Subprogram 5 – Carrying out actions in transport and efficient mobility (energy savings in vertical mobility, natural gas supply facilities, promotion of the bicycle).
Subprogram 6 – Renewal of high energy efficiency equipment in the hospitality sector: hotels, restaurants and cafes –HORECA-.
Eligible costs
- For aid subprogramme 1 (hydrogen use in industry and buildings), those additional investment costs necessary to go beyond the applicable Union standards or to increase the level of environmental protection in the absence of Union rules or to increase the level of environmental protection in the absence of Union rules, to be determined as follows:
Costs of the investment in environmental protection, when these can be identified in the total costs of the investment as a separate investment. In all other cases, costs of the investment in environmental protection, to be determined by reference to a similar, less environmentally friendly investment that could credibly have been made without the aid.
- For aid subprogram 2 (investments in energy efficiency in industrial SMEs), those additional investment costs necessary to achieve a higher level of energy efficiency will be considered eligible and will be determined as follows:
Where the energy efficiency investment costs can be identified in the total investment costs as a separate investment, these energy efficiency related costs will be eligible. In all other cases, the costs of the energy efficiency investment will be determined by reference to a similar investment, involving less energy efficiency, that could credibly have been carried out without the aid (hereinafter “conventional investment”). The difference between the costs of both investments will determine the cost related to energy efficiency and will be the eligible cost.
A maximum limit of aid is established at a value of €80/MWh (maximum ratio of aid per megawatt hour saved in annual final energy) for renovation actions and improvements in processes and their auxiliary elements, and €200/MWh (maximum rate of aid per megawatt hour saved in annual final energy) for renovation actions and improvements to energy installations in existing buildings.
Hydrogen applications in industry
Through the companies that are part of the energy group E&M Combustión, an engineering company that develops advanced combustion technologies, consistent with its role as an international benchmark in advanced combustion technologies, Reinva is part of the hydrogen value chain, by that provides advice, design, manufacture and commissioning of Hydrogen Burners and Hydrogen Combustion Systems applied in power generation plants and in industrial processes.
The main applications of hydrogen in industry occur primarily when this fuel is burned in a burner in industrial processes. From high temperatures and furnaces (such as steel mills, foundries, etc.) to low temperatures (as is the case with dryers, boilers, asphalt plants, etc. Also, of course, in engines, turbines or the automotive industry. In combustion, in any installation where there is a burner and a boiler, the field of application is enormous.
From a technical point of view, the first challenges that the industry faces in its combustion systems for the use of hydrogen are produced in valves and pipes that must be sized in cases of blending with a hydrogen percentage of less than 20%. on the total, as well as the modifications made to the equipment itself, which must be technically adjusted to the characteristics of this sustainable fuel. With higher percentages of hydrogen proportion or 100% of this fuel, current systems will not work… listen to Podcast on Hydrogen Applications in industry
