Iberostar Group, a leading hotel chain, will become the first consumer of green hydrogen in the Spanish tourism sector following an agreement signed with ACCIONA Energía and Enagás.

The offtake contract will allow Iberostar to reduce its consumption of natural gas at its hotels in Mallorca by between 2% and 5%. The new agreement is a milestone in the hotel chain’s strategy to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030.

The clean hydrogen will be produced at Spain’s first renewable hydrogen plant, located in the municipality of Lloseta (Mallorca). The plant is being partly funded by the European Union’s Green Hysland project.

At the heart of this project is the Power to Green Hydrogen Mallorca industrial project developed by ACCIONA and Enagás in collaboration with IDAE, Cemex, and Redexis. It includes the construction of an electrolysis plant to produce more than 300 tons of renewable hydrogen. The facility will be fed by two photovoltaic plants located in Petra and Lloseta, which are already under construction.

Some of the plant’s production will be injected into the gas network to replace a portion of the natural gas consumed by Iberostar. The renewable origin of the green hydrogen will be guaranteed by ACCIONA Energía with its GreenH2Chain® blockchain platform. This tool will allow Iberostar Group to trace, quantify and record the consumption of renewable hydrogen, contributing to the decarbonization of its hotels in Mallorca. This, in turn, contributes to sustainable tourism in the Balearic Islands.

The agreement foresees the sale of between 5 and 10 tons of hydrogen to Iberostar, in addition to the Guarantees of Origin to which the group is entitled.

With this agreement, Iberostar Group becomes one of the key pillars of the European Green Hysland project. In addition to promoting a green hydrogen ecosystem and its use in the tourism industry, the project foresees the use of green hydrogen for heat and power in public and commercial buildings, and as a green fuel for city buses and cars in Mallorca. One of the goals of the project is to test the hydrogen ecosystem as a model for other islands.

Iberostar Group has established its own 2030 goals, in alignment with the United Nations Agenda, based on circular economy policies and with the objective of becoming waste-free and 100% responsible in its seafood supply chain by 2025, and carbon neutral by 2030. The group also plans to protect and improve the ecosystems surrounding its hotels, offsetting a minimum of 75% of emissions through blue carbon solutions by 2030.

“This agreement allows us to lead the energy transition in the hotel sector while making progress with our own Agenda 2030, a commitment that aims to increase the consumption of more efficient and environmentally friendly alternative energies in the group’s establishments globally. Through our Wave of Change movement, we promote innovative circular economy initiatives that position us as a leading example in responsible tourism,” said Gloria Fluxà, vice president & CSO of Grupo Iberostar.

“Iberostar Group’s commitment allows us to advance in the development of a new technology, green hydrogen, which has a leading role to play in the generation of new forms of renewable energy. It is important to be able to count on the vision of companies from a wide range of economic sectors to be able to take a qualitative leap towards a low-carbon economy,” said Rafael Mateo, CEO of ACCIONA Energía.

“Thanks to our commitment to decarbonization and to projects like this one, Enagás has positioned itself among the world’s leading companies in climate action. We have been working for two years on the Green Hysland initiative, which we coordinate, and which includes this Power to Green H2 Mallorca project. Green Hysland is a pioneering initiative in Europe that is moving forward to become a reality as soon as possible”, highlighted Marcelino Oreja, CEO of Enagás, who added that “at Enagás we are committed to being carbon neutral by 2040 and we have reduced emissions by 63% since 2014. In addition, the company is promoting 55 renewable gas projects -34 green hydrogen and 21 biomethane-, with more than 50 partners”.

The Green Hysland project consortium brings together 30 partners in industry, science, and the public sector from 11 countries (nine from the EU, as well as Chile and Morocco). The European Commission’s Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH JU) is co-financing the project with a €10 million grant through 2021-2025.