Valencia, 6 May 2022. Carburos Metálicos, a leading company in the industrial and medical gases sector in Spain that is part of the Air Products Group, has recently joined the consortium of the H2PORTS project, an initiative coordinated by Fundación Valenciaport in close collaboration with the Port Authority of Valencia, and financed by the Clean Hydrogen Partnership. Through the collaboration, the Port of Valencia will pilot the use of a reach stacker and a 4×4 ro-ro terminal tractor, both hydrogen-fuelled, in real-world operating conditions. The vehicles will be fuelled through a mobile hydrogen refuelling station (HRS).
Carburos Metálicos, as an expert in the entire hydrogen value chain, from production to distribution to dispensing, will provide the knowledge and experience necessary to supply hydrogen to the port-maritime industry, a sector that offers a huge growth potential in the coming years. Specifically, within the H2PORTS project, Carburos Metálicos will lead the installation of the HRS at the Port of Valencia and will manage it during the two-year pilot period thus guaranteeing good practices of the team involved, and the correct handling of hydrogen loading operations.
Additionally, Carburos Metálicos will provide the renewable hydrogen for the project, developing all logistics needed for proper supply to the port machinery. Finally, it will provide support for safety training and the exchange of best practices with partners and stakeholders to ensure safe operations.
“We are proud to be a member of this Consortium. At Carburos Metálicos we have a collaborative approach to develop and promote the hydrogen economy. This action is in addition to other initiatives in mobility we are leading, such as the Hydrogen Route with demonstrations of supply and refuelling for hydrogen fuel cell buses throughout several cities in Spain,” said Miquel Lope, General Manager at Carburos Metálicos. “We are participating in Spain’s first permanent bus line powered by renewable hydrogen with the supply of this fuel and installation of a refuelling station, and in 2023 we will open a new hydrogen refuelling station for the public in Tarragona, in the heart of the Mediterranean corridor and close to the city’s important port area.”
About Carburos Metálicos
Carburos Metálicos is a leading industrial and medical gases company in Spain. It produces, distributes and sells gas to multiple sectors: metallurgy, glass production, water bottling, food, healthcare, energy, petrochemical, laboratories, freezing, refrigeration, wine, entertainment and drinks. The company provides a wide range of products, solutions and services to its customers as well as materials and equipment for the applications of these gases.
Founded in 1897, Carburos Metálicos has been serving the industry in our country for 125 years and has always maintained a strong bond with society. It is currently leader in the industrial and medical gases in Spain and a leader in the chemical industry in safety, innovation, and sustainability.
Carburos Metálicos has over 700 employees in Spain, a daily production capacity of over 1,200 tons of liquefied gas (mtpd), 13 production plants, 12 packaging plants, two laboratories of high purity gases and a R&D centre located in Bellaterra (Barcelona), all serving over 100,000 customers. Since 1995, the company belongs to the US founded Air Products group.
Air Products (NYSE:APD) is a world-leading industrial gases company in operation for over 80 years. Focused on serving energy, environment and emerging markets, the Company provides essential industrial gases, related equipment and applications expertise to customers in dozens of industries, including refining, chemical, metals, electronics, manufacturing, and food and beverage. Air Products is also the global leader in the supply of liquefied natural gas process technology and equipment. The Company develops, engineers, builds, owns and operates some of the world’s largest industrial gas projects including: gasification projects that sustainably convert abundant natural resources into syngas for the production of high-value power, fuels and chemicals; carbon capture projects; and world-scale low- and zero-carbon hydrogen projects supporting global transportation and the energy transition.
The Company had fiscal 2021 sales of $10.3 billion from operations in over 50 countries and has a current market capitalization of about $55 billion. More than 20,000 passionate, talented and committed employees from diverse backgrounds are driven by Air Products’ higher purpose to create innovative solutions that benefit the environment, enhance sustainability and address the challenges facing customers, communities, and the world.
About H2PORTS
The European project “H2Ports – Implementing Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Technologies in Ports” is an initiative coordinated by Fundación Valenciaport in close collaboration with the Port Authority of Valencia and financed by the Clean Hydrogen JU, the successor of Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH JU) programme. Its main objective is to test and validate hydrogen technologies on port machinery that allow to have applicable and real solutions without affecting the performance and safety of port operations and producing zero local emissions.
The H2Ports project will entail a total investment of 4 million euros and involves, in addition to Fundación Valenciaport and the Port Authority of Valencia, the Centro Nacional del Hidrógeno, and the private companies MSC Terminal Valencia, Grimaldi Group, Hyster-Yale, Atena Distretto Alta Tecnologia Energia Ambiente, Ballard Power Systems Europe and Enagás.
Thanks to this initiative, the Port of Valencia will be the first port in Europe to incorporate hydrogen technologies to reduce the environmental impact of its operations.
About the Clean Hydrogen Partnership
The Clean Hydrogen Partnership – the successor of the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH JU) – aims to strengthen and integrate European Union research and innovation capacity to accelerate the development and improvement of advanced clean hydrogen applications ready for market, across energy, transport, building and industrial end-uses, while strengthening competitiveness of the Union clean hydrogen value chain. The three members of the partnership are the European Commission, fuel cell and hydrogen industries represented by Hydrogen Europe and the research community represented by Hydrogen Europe Research.
