HYIELD consortium to develop EU-backed waste-to-hydrogen project

Cemex will provide a plant in Spain to demonstrate the potential for waste-to-hydrogen technology. Image: Adobe Stock

Led by the Clean Hydrogen Partnership (Clean Hydrogen JU), the body overseeing EU funding and research activities related to hydrogen, the initiative aims to tap into the potential of the 300 million tonnes of waste produced annually in Europe, with the capacity to generate over 30 million tons of green hydrogen.

The aim of the four-year project is to integrate technologies and processes to efficiently convert biogenic waste streams into high-purity green hydrogen at a competitive cost.

Cemex, which recently joined the HYIELD consortium, said the benefits of the resultant hydrogen could be demonstrated in sectors such as shipping, aviation and energy-intensive industries.

Potential for industrial-scale hydrogen

The waste-to-hydrogen plant, designed for demonstration scale, will be trialled at Cemex’s Alcanar cement factory in Spain.

The plant is expected to process over 2,000 tons of waste, subsequently producing nearly 400 tons of green hydrogen.

Sergio Menendez, president of Cemex EMEA, said, “As part of its drive to reaching net zero by 2050, Cemex is committed to partnering with like-minded organizations to explore the very latest innovations in more sustainable technology that can support the cement production process.

“We are proud to provide one of our cement plants in Spain as the location for the HYIELD trial and excited to see the outcomes from this R&D project.”

The HYIELD project consortium, coordinated by MAGTEL, includes companies such as WtEnergy Advanced Solutions and Synhelion.

Spanish partners in the consortium comprise H2SITE, VEOLIA, ENAGAS, EURECAT, CETAQUA, Inveniam Group, CISC, and La Farga, along with other European partners, including MINCATEC, SINTEF, ARISTENG, and ArcelorMittal.