EDP’s initiative to produce renewable hydrogen in Soto de Ribera, GH2 Soto, has just completed the environmental processing. The Ministry of Ecological Transition, Industry, and Economic Development of the Government of the Principality of Asturias has granted the Integrated Environmental Authorization for the project, marking a new milestone in the company’s mature and realistic plan to transform its thermal power plants.

This authorization allows progress in developing the first 5 MW of electrolysis capacity that EDP aims to deploy at the site. The company will invest more than 20 million euros and produce 600 tons of renewable hydrogen annually for various industrial uses, avoiding approximately 6,000 tons of CO2 emissions per year.

This initiative has secured 6 million euros in funding from IDAE (Institute for the Diversification and Saving of Energy) as part of the Renewable Energy, Renewable Hydrogen, and Storage (ERHA) PERTE program, under the first call of the Pioneer Projects program.

The production of renewable hydrogen is one of the pillars of EDP’s realistic and mature plan to transform the Soto de Ribera plant into a “green hub” linked to renewable energy, energy storage, electricity system flexibility, and renewable hydrogen.

This favorable resolution comes after also successfully navigating the environmental processing for its renewable hydrogen projects in Aboño (150 MW) and Los Barrios (130 MW), making EDP the only company with advanced and recognized projects of this scale in Europe.

In Asturias, EDP aims to reach 1 GW of electrolysis capacity between its two plants undergoing transformation, Aboño and Soto de Ribera. This ambition is recognized as a Project of Common Interest by the European Commission.

This recognition enables faster planning and permitting processes, better regulatory conditions, lower administrative costs due to simplified environmental evaluation procedures, greater visibility for investors, and the right to apply for funding from the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF).