The port of Cartagena does not want to “miss the train” of green hydrogen, within its decarbonization plan, and has participated in the World Hydrogen Week 2025 in Copenhagen. This is the event that brings together more than 3,000 experts and leaders from the energy sector, companies, institutions and ports from all over the world each year, with the goal of fostering investment, collaboration and trust in the global hydrogen market.
Focused on the challenges and opportunities faced by the ports of Southern Europe in the development of the hydrogen economy, the head of the Innovation Area of the Port Authority of Cartagena, Fermín Rol, participated in the international panel Portugal and Spain: realities and challenges of hydrogen projects.
Cartagena is one of the main energy and industrial ports in Southern Europe, and, according to Rol, “the first industrial port” of our country, adding that “we are actively working to become a hub for green hydrogen and its derivatives”.
During his speech, Rol highlighted that “Cartagena is one of the main energy and industrial ports in Southern Europe, and the first industrial port in Spain, and we are actively working to become a hub for green hydrogen and its derivatives”.
Fermín Rol underlined that the industrial ports of Spain, with a long experience in handling hydrocarbons and chemical products, “are better prepared to take on the new traffics associated with hydrogen and its derivatives, such as ammonia or green methanol, which require a high level of security and operational knowledge”.
He explained the main actions that the Port Authority is promoting to attract new investments and projects linked to hydrogen through the adaptation of infrastructures to host new energy traffics and smaller scale vessels. Among them, he detailed some such as the availability of industrial land with access to electrical energy, water and connections with the docks through pipe galleries; or the participation in associations and innovative projects of green hydrogen and CO₂ capture through the PortLab.
In this sense, he added that the strategic location of the port, together with the high solar potential of southeastern Spain, “allows us to offer competitive renewable energy for the production and export of green hydrogen and derivatives to northern Europe”.
It should be remembered that the energy company Repsol has announced the installation of the first large renewable hydrogen plant, a 100 MW electrolyzer at its Cartagena refinery and that this port has carried out the first load of biomethane, by the company Enagás.
To conclude, the head of the Innovation Area of the Port Authority of Cartagena highlighted the importance of establishing commercial and logistical agreements between the producer centers of Southern Europe and the consumers of the North, so that the projects can advance.
In this sense, he pointed out that ports “we must connect producers and buyers” to make the hydrogen economy a reality because “we are not just infrastructures at the end of the value chain, but active players in the energy transition.”
The commitment of the port of Cartagena to marine sustainability and climate change has many facets and one of them is the Chair of the Environment, which has presented the awards for the Best Bachelor’s Thesis (TFG) and Master’s Thesis (TFM), recognizing academic excellence and the contribution to sustainable development.
In this ninth edition, and jointly with the University of Murcia (UMU) and the Polytechnic University of Cartagena (UPCT), the awards were given to María Segado, for her TFG Design and implementation of a SCADA system for a port crane for its application in the Cartagena Maritime Terminal; and to Encarnación Olivares for her TFM Effects of climate change on the red gorgonian Paramuricea clavata in a marine reserve in the Mediterranean. During the event, the prizes for the II Environmental Photography Contest were also awarded.
