Green hydrogen’s ability to transform emission-intensive sectors makes it a key ally in the energy transition. We have already analysed how this energy vector is redefining the value chain of the metallurgical industry and also its key role in the chemical industry, contributing to making both of them more sustainable.
Now, we go a step further and focus on a new key area for decarbonisation: transport.
Unlike the battery-electric passenger car, which has already found its niche in the consumer market, large articulated lorries and long-distance coaches still rely almost exclusively on diesel. Weight, range and recharging times are technical barriers that conventional batteries have not yet been able to overcome, given the high demands of professional users of this type of vehicle.
It is in this scenario that renewable hydrogen emerges as a powerful energy alternative, as fuel cell electric vehicles make it possible to decarbonise these mobility segments, providing conditions of use that are closer to user requirements, and thus complementing battery electric vehicles in meeting the need to decarbonise the transport sector.
Produced by water electrolysis using electricity from renewable sources, renewable hydrogen generates no CO₂ emissions during its production.
The context should be taken into account. According to the latest information from the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge, the transport sector accounts for 30.7% of Spain’s total greenhouse gas emissions. Road transport alone accounts for 28.4% of total GHG emissions.
In recent years, Spain has begun to take decisive steps to integrate renewable hydrogen into its logistics ecosystem. In September 2023, Enagás, together with Disfrimur, Westport Fuel Systems and Versallis Tech Services, carried out the first nationwide journey of a heavy goods vehicle powered by hydrogen, in a test carried out for Mercadona, which linked two of its logistics centres in Madrid.
Another example is in Barcelona. For years, the city of Barcelona has been operating several dozen hydrogen buses and has its own hydrogen plant located in the Free Trade Zone.
Madrid has not been left behind when it comes to passenger transport. At the end of 2024, it opened its first renewable hydrogen refuelling station designed specifically for city buses. Meanwhile, initiatives such as H2Ports in the Port of Valencia have demonstrated the viability of hydrogen in port machinery, and projects in the Canary Islands seek to replicate this model in the ports of Las Palmas and Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
The transport sector accounts for 30.7% of total greenhouse gas emissions in Spain
Initiatives like this reveal a paradigm shift in Spanish industry. Through the Hydrogen Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (PERTE, in its initials in Spanish) and the “H2 Pioneers” programme, the Government has mobilised hundreds of millions of euros to boost the installation of electrolysers, refuelling stations and vehicles powered by renewable hydrogen.
Specifically, the Institute for Energy Diversification and Saving (IDAE), through the second call of the “H2 Pioneers” programme, has granted funding to several projects for the production and use of renewable hydrogen in Spain.
The projects approved include the H2V Navarre Valley, with a PEM electrolyser and a hydrogen plant for transport fleets; Hystone in Andalusia, which will combine industrial hydrogen production with a station for heavy mobility; HyBizkaia in the Basque Country, which will integrate two hydrogenerators linked to the manufacture of synthetic fuels and passenger transport; and H2 Seville Port, which will start up an electrolyser for industrial uses and a hydrogen plant for buses, forklifts and port operations. Together, these initiatives will allow the deployment of at least five new hydropower plants strategically distributed in different regions.
In addition to this support, there are national schemes such as the Hydrogen Roadmap which aims to reach 4 GW of electrolysis capacity by 2030 and deploy a network of at least 100 refuelling stations.
The map of hydrogen stations is made up of 12 operational hydrogen plants and 8 under construction on the Iberian Peninsula, according to Gasnam data updated to July 2025. The outlook is for sustained infrastructure growth in the second half of the decade.
Spain plans to reach 4 GW of electrolysis capacity by 2030 and deploy a network of at least 100 refuelling stations
Another target set through the Hydrogen Roadmap is to have a fleet of at least 150 renewable hydrogen fuel cell buses and a fleet of at least 5,000 light and heavy duty vehicles. This would be in addition to two commercial medium and long-distance train lines on currently non-electrified tracks.
At the European level, in 2023 the European Commission adopted the Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation (AFIR), which sets 2030 as the date by which a hydrogen refuelling infrastructure that can serve both passenger cars and trucks must be deployed with refuelling points at all urban nodes and every 200 kilometres along the core network of the trans-European transport network.
Scale Green Energy, the Enagás subsidiary, will receive more than 8 million euros from the European Union to roll out a network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Spain. The funding comes through the European CEF programme to promote clean energy infrastructures, and has been granted by the CINEA Agency.
As part of this drive, the company will build six hydrogen stations – each with a capacity of 1,000 kg per day – which will be located at key points along the Atlantic and Mediterranean corridors, within the Trans-European Transport Network.
In total, the project will mobilise more than 26 million euros and will allow the refuelling of renewable hydrogen at 350 and 700 bar, suitable for both light and heavy vehicles. A clear commitment to more sustainable mobility on the country’s main routes.
The debate between battery electric vehicles and fuel cell electric vehicles is at the centre of much of the technical conversation about sustainable mobility.
While battery electric vehicles are more energy-efficient, their application in heavy transport remains limited. A long-distance delivery lorry needs a range of between 400 and 800 kilometres, and vehicles used nationally and internationally need to be able to drive for more than 1,000 km without refuelling. These needs require lorries to be fitted with an extremely heavy battery system that reduces the payload and requires hours to fully recharge, or high power (up to 1 MW at present) for fast recharging.
Fuel cell electric vehicles, on the other hand, make it possible to refuel in less than fifteen minutes and guarantee a range similar to that of diesel. This makes it a preferred option for freight fleets, intercity buses and industrial transport fleets, intercity buses or industrial machinery with high energy demand.
As long as hydrogen comes from renewable sources, net emissions are practically zero
In addition, its use improves air quality in urban areas, as fuel cell electric vehicles do not emit pollutant gases either. From an environmental point of view, as long as the hydrogen comes from renewable sources, the net GHG emissions of the system are practically zero.
Another important aspect is the flexibility of hydrogen as an energy vector. It can be stored in gaseous or liquid form, distributed by truck or via the future hydrogen network.
In short, renewable hydrogen is one of the technological pillars on which the decarbonisation of heavy transport will be based in the coming decades. With the right infrastructure, institutional support and an ambitious industrial strategy by lorry manufacturers, Spain can become a European leader in the use of hydrogen as a clean fuel for lorries, buses and logistics machinery.
