Today, our blog hosts a brief interview with Manuel Tourón, environmental manager at TASGA RENOVABLES, one of the five power plant operators of D-HYDROFLEX project.
Manuel, welcome. We are happy to host you in the #meet the D-HYDROFLEX team blog series. TASGA RENOVABLES is one of the five D-HYDROFLEX partners that are HPP operators. Your company is located in Spain and you offer the HPP plant in Touro as a demo site for modelling water mass availability for H2 production and forecasting HPP and H2 production and assessing the environmental effect of a hybrid power plant.
Q: Would you like to introduce yourself to get to know you?
A: I´m Manuel Tourón, biologist, and my whole career has been focused on the environmental management of projects as an environmental consultant. Currently, I am the TASGA´s environmental manager.
Q: Could you describe TASGA’s role on the project?
A: Tasga Renovables offers the program its HPP plant in Touro, as well as its hybridization proposal to produce green hydrogen. The aim is to validate the hybridization of the HPP by considering its operating conditions and the environmental implications of the proposal, establishing useful guidelines for its application in similar plants in the EU.
Q: There is a global push for green hydrogen. What are your thoughts?
A: Personally, I have always thought that electrification would not provide all the answers to fossil fuel substitution and that hydrogen-based mobility is an option worth considering.
Green hydrogen is obviously one of the keys to this option and, although it is still an immature technology, it is an area where those of us involved in renewable generation must bear in mind.
Q: What are the main challenges of your work on the project, and how do you tackle them?
A: Right now, to select and install the data collection systems, and their connection to the plant’s own systems. Later, to study the data collected and establish the basic lines for modelling their behavior, as well as the effects of green hydrogen production.
There is only one way to tackle the challenges, step by step. I always try to keep in mind what is the point we would like to reach and always consider the options that the development of the work itself generates.
Q: What are your expectations from the project? What impact will the project have on the energy ecosystem?
A: We hope to improve our knowledge on the operational possibilities of the HPP plant and on the status and evolution of the water quality, both in terms of its suitability for green hydrogen production and in terms of avoiding disturbances resulting from the latter process. As mentioned above, mobility based on green hydrogen can at least be a complement to the current electric vehicle model, and the development of this project is a way to promote the use of hydrogen as a renewable energy source, both for mobility and for other uses.
Manuel, thank you for your time. I know that you prefer the field! It was a pleasure.
A: Thank you.
More information for the project are available here.
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