Massive underground reservoir of natural hydrogen in Spain 'could deliver the cheapest H2 in the world'
Helios Aragón says it has access to giant resource of naturally occurring hydrogen in northern Spain but the country’s anti-oil rules are standing in its way
Hydrogen: hype, hope and the hard truths around its role in the energy transition
But Helios Aragón claims that Spain’s anti-drilling legislation, which has banned all new hydrocarbons exploration, is standing in the way of it beginning operation by 2028 as planned.
If delivered, the project in the region of Aragón, northeast Spain, would be the first of its kind in Europe.
In 2020, Helios Aragón was granted two six-year exploration licences at a 90,000-hectare site, and last year it confirmed the findings from decades-old well. The company wants to drill further exploration wells in 2024, if it can secure approval to do so from the regional government.
The company — which is incorporated in Singapore, operates in Spain with a predominantly British management team and is backed by New York venture capital fund Ascent Hydrogen — wants to begin producing commercially in 2028, but this would require substantial investment of around €900m.
The ultimate goal, for which it has the support of the regional government in Aragón, is to create a production and logistics hub for natural hydrogen, from which it can deliver to France and the rest of the Iberian peninsula.
But in order to raise the investment needed for production to begin, Helios says it needs a better regulatory framework.
But Munro does not believe this is an issue.
“In some surveys carried out in May of this year in the Monzón-1 well, 0% hydrocarbons were recorded, so it does not make sense that they are within the same legislation,” he told the Spanish newspaper.
The climate change and energy transition law also enshrines the government’s support for green hydrogen produced from renewable sources.
This is around half the cost of grey hydrogen produced in either the US or Europe, which averages around $1.5-1.6/kg when gas prices are stable.
The extent of global quantities of natural hydrogen are not yet fully understood and serious field work is only just beginning.
Natural hydrogen is also associated with surface-level geological phenomena known as “fairy circles”, which are present in the US, Australia, Namibia, Russia and Brazil.
Key natural hydrogen production processes, environments and locations
There are six known ways in which hydrogen is produced naturally:
Serpentinisation
In which the mineral olivine located in mid-ocean ridges or ophiolites (a geological formation where sections of the Earth’s mantle rise above sea level) is weathered to form hydrogen-rich fluids. This has been seen in the Semail ophiolite, in the Hajar Mountains of Oman. Under pressure and high temperatures, water can react with these iron-rich rocks to produce H2.
Radiolysis of water
Radioactive elements in the Earth’s crust — for example in crystalline basement rocks with high content of uranium, thorium or potassium — decompose water molecules trapped in causing a hydrogen pocket, as happened in South Australia.
Deep degassing
In which “primary” hydrogen (a single hydrogen atom attached to a single carbon atom) escapes from deep within the Earth’s crust. This has been seen in Nebraska, in the US.
Iron reduction and sulphur oxidation
Ferric iron in a black smoker (a subsea hydrothermal vent formed from iron sulphide deposits) is reduced to ferrous iron and hydrogen sulphides.
Thermal decomposition of organic matter
In which ammonium compounds located in deep sendiments decompose under high temperatures to form hydrogen and nitrogen, for example in hydrogen-nitrogen gas seeps in Oman.
Biological activity
Hydrogen is produced by microbes living in the Earth’s crusts, usually co-existing with hydrogen-consuming microbes and found via sediment or aquifers. This has been observed in the coal beds of the Powder River Basin in Montana, US.