Repsol has stalled all of its major green hydrogen projects in Spain, citing financial pressures from Madrid’s windfall tax on the energy and banking sectors. Repsol confirmed the three projects, totaling 350 megawatts of electrolyzer capacity and linked to refineries in Spain, have been put on hold. The company’s green hydrogen projects in Portugal continue as planned, it said. Green hydrogen is produced through electrolysis using renewable electricity. Spain introduced a windfall tax in 2022, a measure meant to be temporary to help consumers cope with higher energy prices. But last year, Madrid sent a proposal to Brussels to make the tax permanent. Renewables-rich Spain is seen as a natural market for green hydrogen, but even here, such projects have struggled, underscoring wider challenges in scaling up low-carbon hydrogen. Earlier this month, one of the seven projects supported under the first round of auction winners from the European Hydrogen Bank was shelved.
