The Spanish refinery controlled by Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund aims to become a global hydrogen giant.

As Europe’s oil industry races to find new fuel sources, Cepsa SA—a Spanish refinery controlled by Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund—has announced a comprehensive clean energy strategy. Headquartered in Madrid, Cepsa will focus on developing energy solutions for heavy transport and industry, setting itself apart from other European oil companies that have announced similar transitions. According to CEO Maarten Wetselaar, this includes green hydrogen and non-food biofuels for trucks, shipping, aviation, and other sectors. “We decided to tackle the toughest decarbonization challenges,” Wetselaar said Wednesday during a strategic presentation in Madrid, Spain. “For heavy industry and heavy transport, the solutions are less clear.” Wetselaar stated that Cepsa aims to produce 20 gigawatts of green hydrogen and 2.5 million tons of non-food biofuels annually by 2030. Betting on hydrogen and biofuels carries risks, as neither fuel has yet been widely adopted. However, with the Russia-Ukraine crisis upending energy policies across Europe, governments and businesses are urgently developing new energy sources and accelerating the energy transition. Growing concerns over energy security have opened a window of opportunity for new initiatives like Cepsa’s. The 53-year-old Dutchman Wetselaar joined Cepsa on January 1 from Shell, where he had led the company’s gas and new energies division, to spearhead its push into clean energy.

Hydrogen extraction: Challenges of the new energy transition.

Earlier this month, French researchers reported the largest natural hydrogen flow ever detected—in a mine in Albania. One researcher dubbed it a 'jacuzzi.' New Scientist published a report on the discovery, noting that the deposit could provide scientists with clues about where to search for more natural hydrogen—because it is urgently needed. “Most of the hydrogen may be inaccessible, but recovering just a few percent could meet all projected demand—500 million tons per year—for hundreds of years.” That’s the assessment of Geoffrey Ellis, a petroleum geochemist with the U.S. Geological Survey and lead researcher on a study estimating that up to 5 trillion tons of hydrogen may lie underground. Hydrogen is an energy carrier—and the most abundant element in the universe—widely regarded as a key enabler of the energy transition, since burning it releases only water vapor. Owing to this appealing property, people are exploring its use as a replacement for natural gas in home heating, and hydrogen-fueled vehicles already have a small market. Meanwhile, Europe and the United States have launched ambitious green-hydrogen plans, aiming to make hydrogen the new norm across all industries currently reliant on hydrocarbons—including fertilizer production and refining. The broader goal appears to be transforming zero-emission hydrogen into a full-scale natural gas substitute, eliminating hydrocarbons entirely regardless of their carbon footprint. Yet this vision faces real-world hurdles—including prohibitively high production costs and the lack of massive wind and/or solar power generation capacity yet to be built. This holds true even for production leaders like Spain, which harbors major ambitions in green hydrogen. Building the necessary power-generation infrastructure to realize those ambitions requires both time and billions of dollars in investment—a problem, given the sense of urgency conveyed by European politicians’ rhetoric on hydrogen. In contrast, geological hydrogen appears to sit ready for extraction and utilization. As the Financial Times quoted researchers, it is significantly cheaper to obtain than green hydrogen—and also a cleaner way to acquire it. “Geological hydrogen represents an extraordinary opportunity to produce clean hydrogen in a way that is not only low-carbon, but also low-land-footprint, low-water-footprint, and low-energy-consumption,” said the Chief Commercial Officer of a startup backed by Breakthrough Energy Ventures, an initiative supported by Bill Gates.

Mubadala’s Spanish Refiner Starts Building Green Hydrogen Plant

4 days ago

Moeve SA, backed by Mubadala, has commenced construction of a 300-megawatt green hydrogen plant in Spain to replace fossil fuel feedstock in its local chemicals facility. This €1 billion project supports an €8 billion transition plan toward clean energy.

bloomberg

2026-09-17

Mubadala’s Spanish Refiner Starts Building Green Hydrogen Plant

Mubadala’s Spanish Refiner Starts Building Green Hydrogen Plant

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