Spain – Aragon launches exploration in Huesca for a ‘treasure’ of natural hydrogen. Picture credit – Drilling for natural hydrogen by Natural Hydrogen Energy LLC in the USA. Image: Viacheslav Zgonnik
The DGA declares an investment that aims to revolutionize the energy sector to be of regional interest. The promoter company, Helios Aragón, requests environmental permission to open a 3,850-meter-deep research well in 2024.
Aragon wants to be the protagonist of the race for hydrogen , which in its renewable aspect represents the great commitment of the energy policy of Spain and Europe. But the autonomous community not only wants to produce it by taking advantage of its enormous renewable generation capacity –the so-called green hydrogen–, but also aspires to exploit the large reserves of this sustainable and carbon-free gas that are found naturally in the subsoil of Huesca .
The project to fulfill this dream and start up what would be the first well of this type in Europe , advanced by EL PERIÓDICO DE ARAGÓN last December, has taken its first steps and recently has the endorsement of the Aragonese Executive, which has declared the investment of regional interest. In any case , the path for it to become a reality is fraught with important technical and legal obstacles.
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The initiative is promoted by British investors, through the company Helios Aragón PTE, LTD , who have recently requested environmental authorization to carry out a first exploratory investigation of this energy resource in Monzón.
The file is currently in the public information phase at the Aragonese Institute of Environmental Management (Inaga) , as stated in the Official Gazette of Aragon (BOA) on May 10. The objective is to carry out the first drilling in 2024 and commercially exploit the deposit for 20 years from 2028.
The well for the exploration of hydrogen will reach a maximum depth of approximately 3,850 meters, according to the environmental documentation presented by the company, which has been carried out by the consulting firm Idom.
The initial profile will have a diameter of between 61 and 66 centimeters and will be executed using standard machinery. The promoters emphasize that they will not use the controversial hydraulic fracturing or fracking system, prohibited by Spanish and Aragonese legislation, but drilling mud, “an essential element in modern technology” to carry out prospecting.
The company proposes an investment of 900 million euros to begin the extraction of these coveted materials in 2028 and thus create the first natural hydrogen center in Europe, which would generate 300 direct and “highly qualified” jobs and 1,500 indirect jobs .
In order for these figures to be realized, the Government of Aragon has just approved the declaration of an investment of regional interest , a project that aims to generate the first natural hydrogen and helium hub in Aragon. In the coming weeks, a conference will be held in Zaragoza for the presentation of this private initiative.
Helios Aragón plans to produce 55,000 tons (55 million kilos) per year of “very competitive” hydrogen from 2028 when the production phase begins. This would mean 10% of the current market in Spain only with the first Monzón reservation. Once the underground reservoir is depleted, the developers propose to use it to “safely” store green hydrogen at rates similar to the production mined.
The exploitation and commercialization phase of the project is unfeasible with the current Spanish legislation on climate change . Pure hydrogen , which has never been extracted in the old continent, is classified in the eyes of Spanish legislation as a hydrocarbon (just like oil ) despite the fact that it is not if one looks at its chemical composition.
The exploration and exploitation of hydrocarbons has been prohibited since 2021 by the Climate Change and Energy Transition Law, which is why the company proposes including the exploitation of natural hydrogen in the Spanish Mining Law, a step that France has just taken.
This gas is nicknamed golden hydrogen because it practically does not exist in its pure form on the planet: it is usually produced from other substances. Energy experts place it on the market at a very competitive price (0.75 euros per kilo), while green hydrogen, produced with the surplus from renewables , is between 7 and 8 euros per kilo.
Headquarters in Singapore and long energy experience
The company requested in August 2018 the appropriate authorizations to explore natural hydrogen and helium, permits that were granted in February 2020 by the Government of Aragon. Surveys and tests carried out in situ a year ago confirmed the “high readings” of both resources at Barbastro and Monzón.
The request for the administrative prioritization of the project in the DGA was presented by the Malaga lawyer Ramón Castilla Fernández-Fábregas, on behalf of Helios Aragón Exploration SL on February 28.
The company, with its registered office in Madrid and incorporated in March 2018, is headquartered by the aforementioned promoter company, domiciled in Singapore , which has two other subsidiaries (in Poland and the United Kingdom) . The management team accredits long experience in the energy sector, in companies such as Shell, Exxion Mobil or BP, according to the DGA agreementby which it is declared as an investment of regional interest
Project Background
In the 1960s, the Empresa Nacional de Petróleos de Aragón SA (Ensapa) carried out systematic drilling in Spanish territory in order to locate potential oil deposits . Within said campaign, the Monzón-1 survey was carried out, located approximately one kilometer southeast of the urban nucleus. The results obtained ruled out the existence of hydrocarbons, but did reflect the presence of hydrogen in two areas, although these were indirect indications since the objective of the survey was to locate oil.
The existence of free hydrogen deposits on earth has always been considered limited, given its high volatility and its ability to combine with other elements . The latest research seems to refute this belief, establishing that under special conditions the accumulation of this chemical element seems to be possible . In the 21st century, the presence of natural hydrogen was discovered in Mali, and various studies seem to support the possibility of its existence under particular conditions.
In this context, Helios Aragón considers the possibility of carrying out a new investigation survey with the aim of verifying the presence of hydrogen in the area near the Monzón-1 well, as well as characterizing the environment of the potential deposit in order to know its characteristics (storage rock, reservoir seal, possible source areas).
The promoters of the projects assure in the documentation that the technology selected for the prospection “will not entail any action that contemplates the use of hydraulic fracturing or fracking techniques”.
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Aragon launches into the exploration in Huesca of a ‘treasure’ of natural hydrogen, May 20, 2023
Picture credit – Drilling for natural hydrogen by Natural Hydrogen Energy LLC in the USA. Image: Viacheslav Zgonnik
