(Alliance News) - Hera Spa and Snam Spa on Tuesday signed a memorandum of understanding for the creation of a hydrogen production hub aimed at contributing to the decarbonization of Emilia-Romagna.

The centerpiece of Modena's Hydrogen Valley will be IdrogeMO, the Hera Group and Snam project to build a production hub capable of producing up to 400 tons of renewable hydrogen per year, with the possibility of future expansions to increase production. In total, the planned investment amounts to more than EUR20 million.

In the realization of IdrogeMO, the companies will have a separate but interconnected role: Hera will be the lead entity, its subsidiary Herambiente will be in charge of building the photovoltaic plant, and Snam will be in charge of building the hydrogen production plant.

Given its relevance to the energy transition and decarbonization of the territory, the partnership between Hera Group, Herambiente and Snam has already obtained EUR19.5 million in funding last April from the Emilia-Romagna Region, allocated under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan.

In addition, the development of a supply chain for this renewable energy carrier will have important and positive environmental, social and economic impacts in a region with a strong entrepreneurial vocation.

The document was signed by the Municipality of Modena, Hera Group, Snam, Seta, Unimore, the Agency for Energy and Sustainable Development, the Productive Areas Consortium, the National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Development, Democenter Sipe Foundation and the Chamber of Commerce of Modena.

The IdrogeMO project by lead partner Hera and Snam will be the centerpiece of Modena's Hydrogen Valley.

Specifically, the 6-megawatt photovoltaic park, with an innovative solar panel system floating on a body of water, will be built at the Municipality of Modena's depleted landfill in concession to Herambiente, thus without any consumption of useful land, with a view to the circular economy.

The photovoltaic system will power an electrolyzer-a device that extracts hydrogen from water through an electrolysis process-installed in a disused industrial area on Via Caruso in Modena. To enable the operation of the electrolyzer-whose capacity is 2.5 megawatts-even in the absence of sunlight and during nighttime hours, a battery is planned to store the electricity.

Snam will be responsible for the construction of the hydrogen production plant, a vector on whose development the company is working on several fronts, consistent with EU objectives set out in the Repower EU Plan and under a strategic plan to 2026 that has earmarked EUR1 billion for decarbonization initiatives.

The plant may be operated by a "special purpose vehicle," i.e., an ad hoc company controlled by the Hera Group and owned by Snam, which will be responsible not only for production but also for marketing green hydrogen. This is a totally green hydrogen production center, the design phase of which is currently being finalized, and work on the facilities is scheduled to begin by 2024.

The photovoltaic plant will be completed by 2025, and the hydrogen hub will be ready in 2026. Currently, tenders are already being launched to award supply and works contracts.

Snam's stock is down 0.2 percent at EUR4.67 while Hera trades in the red 0.6 percent at EUR2.92 per share.

By Chiara Bruschi, Alliance News reporter

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