The BDR Thermea group, which specialises in commercial water and space heating systems, has deployed a boiler in Spain that runs on 100% green hydrogen. The electrolysis process generates oxygen which can be used for medical needs. This is a first that will be extended to France.

The initial project was carried out at the Viamed San José hospital in Alcantarilla (Murcia), in partnership with Exolum. The idea was to produce hydrogen via electrolysis using an electricity generated by almost 300 solar panels which can generate up to 227,458 kWh. Thanks to this hydrogen-based process, the hospital is benefiting in every way. The hydrogen obtained is used to power a boiler supplied by Baxi (a company of the BDR Thermea group). This replaces natural gas and reduces CO2 emissions by 20 tonnes a year, while maintaining heating functions.

But it also produces oxygen of remarkable purity. And this is interesting for the hospital sector, because since Covid, demand has risen by 50%. And the hospital is reducing its CO2 emissions even further, because it is not dependent on external suppliers.

The installation in Murcia means that the hospital is self-sufficient in energy. Excess in green electricity can be stored in the form of hydrogen and used for heating. BDR Thermea is going to duplicate this model in France, in Saint-Etienne (South of Lyon).

Olivier Stenuit, Head of Hydrogen Strategy and Development at BDR Thermea France, will be talking about this project at a conference at Hyvolution.

Do you want to find out more about Spain? Then our latest articles about this southern European country should be of interest to you. You can access all our articles written about Spain here.

Article written by Laurent Meillaud and translated by Logan King