Alter, Enagás and ENE will promote energy projects for a lithium processing factory

• The consortium made up by Extremadura New Energies and Enalter (a company formed by Alter Enersun and Enagás Renovable) will promote the construction of a photovoltaic solar park of 350 MW, of a renewable hydrogen production plant with a maximum capacity of up to 180 MW and of a green methane production plant. 
• This renewable energy generation initiative will supply the basic energy needs of the lithium processing plant planned by Extremadura New Energies in Cáceres, contributing to carrying out a sustainable mining for one of the 30 elements considered to be ‘critical materials’ by the EU, due to the risk of shortages.
• The project, which is in phase of viability analysis, will generate around 600 jobs in its construction phase and more than 50 long term jobs.
• The plants for solar photovoltaic production, and for green hydrogen and methane production will be commissioned from 2026 and will avoid emissions into the atmosphere amounting to more than 300,000 tons of C02 per year, thus contributing to progress in the decarbonization of the industrial processes and consequently to achieve the objective set by Spain and the European Union to reduce energy dependency from outside.

Extremadura New Energies (ENE) and Enalter —a consortium formed by Alter Enersun and Enagás Renovable, the latter in which Enagás has a stake – has reached a collaboration agreement to promote different renewable project projects in the region of Cáceres, including the development of a solar photovoltaic project of 350 MW power and the launching of a renewable hydrogen and methane production plant, with a maximum capacity equivalent to 180 MW.

These installations, which are pioneers in Spain, will supply the energy needs of the lithium processing plant which ENE is promoting in the Cáceres area. For the management of the photovoltaic project and for the renewable hydrogen and methane generation plants, the collaboration agreement establishes the creation of a company with social and fiscal headquarters in Cáceres, in which ENE and Enalter have stakes and in which it is expected to create 600 jobs in the construction phase and more than 50 long-term jobs.

According to the collaboration agreement, in a first phase of development, studies will be carried out to design, evaluate and determine the technical-economic viability of the project. At the same time, the most viable locations in the municipality of Cáceres and in its surroundings will be identified and evaluated. Subsequently, the request for administrative processing of the project will be made to begin construction as of 2025.

In a second phase solar photovoltaic production plants as well as renewable hydrogen and methane production plants will be launched, which will come into operation from 2026 and will have an initial useful life of more than 25 years.

Decarbonization and local development

The integral development of this project will prevent the emission of more than 300,000 tons of C02 per year, contributing to advance in decarbonizing the industrial processes and the development of a sustainable lithium mining, due to the fact that the produced renewable energy will be supplied to the processing plant for this mineral designed by Extremadura New Energies.

The project is aligned with the decarbonization goals of the EU of the RePower, EU plan and Spain’s renewable hydrogen roadmap.  This project also means a new opportunity for generating social and economic development in Extremadura through the generation of quality employment and the promotion of the industrial fabric, together with the commitment to energy transition.

The main activity of Extremadura New Energies, a company with social and fiscal headquarters in Cáceres, consists of developing in this town an integrated industrial production project of lithium hydroxide.  This is a unique plant in Europe that will contribute to the energy Independence of Spain and the European Commission as a whole.

For its part, Enalter’s objective is the promotion, construction, operation and maintenance of green hydrogen plants and renewable energy generation facilities to decarbonize the industrial activity and reduce its greenhouse gas emissions.

The CEO of Extremadura New Energies, Ramón Jiménez, has pointed out that the signing of this Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) means “one more step” in the development of ENE’s integrated industrial project. With these plants we “fulfill our commitment to develop a project with the highest environmental sustainability, among which the use of green hydrogen, the use of renewable energies and the capture of CO2 to avoid possible greenhouse effect gas emissions”.

José Luis Morlanes, CEO of Alter Enersun, explained that “the objective of Alter Enersun is to offer renewable solutions to decarbonize industrial activities and, in such case, help the lithium hydroxide factory to be neutral in greenhouse effect gas emissions”.

Antón Martínez, CEO of Enagás Renovable, hs indicated that “the collaboration between companies is fundamental to efficiently channel and maximize the investment capacity and to successfully develop a hydrogen ecosystem that is linked to renewable energies”.  This Memorandum of Understanding reinforces Enagás Renovable’s commitment to the promotion of renewable gases, decarbonization and energy transition.

Renewable hydrogen and green methane, allies to decarbonize

Renewable hydrogen is mainly achieved through water electrolysis which consists in separating hydrogen from the oxygen contained in the water through renewable electricity.  The most decisive aspect is that this process is powered entirely by renewable energy, therefore it does not generate any kind of polluting emission to the atmosphere and is the cleanest and most sustainable hydrogen.

Green hydrogen is a key sustainable solution for decarbonizing the economy and is part of the solution to achieve climate neutrality in 2050 as established by the European Green Pact.

Renewable hydrogen is set to be a valuable energy vector for end uses where it is the most efficient solution in the process of its decarbonization, such as hydrogen-intensive industry and high-temperature processes, long-distance heavy transport, maritime transport, rail transport or aviation. In addition, its quality as an energy vector gives it great potential as an instrument for energy storage and sectoral integration.

Green methane or synthetic methane is generated through the combination of renewable hydrogen and CO2 captured from industrial processes, in a chemical process called methanation.

A key aspect is that the CO2 emissions generated in the combustion of synthetic methane are offset by the CO2 separated and recovered from industrial processes (produced in the lithium treatment process in this project), which allows the project to be 100% renewable.