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El azulejo italiano anuncia «la primera planta de cerámica alimentada por hidrógeno verde» / Italian manufacturer announces the first green hydrogen ceramic industry

13.01.2022 20:02

Iris Ceramica Group y Snam han anunciado este jueves que, a lo largo del año 2022, comenzará a operar la nueva planta de Iris Ceramica Group en Castellarano (Reggio Emilia) y que estará equipada con tecnologías nativas que permitirán el uso de hidrógeno verde en los procesos productivos.

«El hidrógeno verde –afirma Marco Alverà, director general de Snam– es el vector energético ideal para descarbonizar una industria intensiva en energía como la cerámica, un sector en el que nuestro país cuenta con empresas de excelencia a nivel internacional, como Iris Ceramica Group. Esta alianza, junto con otras iniciativas que estamos adelantando en otros sectores como el siderúrgico, el vidrio y el ferroviario, es un primer paso hacia la producción de la cerámica del futuro con cero emisiones de CO2».

La solución desarrollada por Iris Ceramica Group, con el apoyo de Snam, permitirá a la mencionada factoría de Castellarano diseñar y producir superficies cerámicas mediante una mezcla de hidrógeno verde, producido a partir de energía solar y gas natural.

Según comunican desde la firma transalpina, «en la azotea del edificio se instalará una planta fotovoltaica (con una potencia de 2,5 MW) y se combinará con un electrolizador y un sistema de almacenamiento del hidrógeno renovable producido in situ».

«El uso de una mezcla de hidrógeno verde y gas natural, en lugar de gas solo, permitirá reducir las emisiones de CO2 y abrirá el camino, a largo plazo, al uso exclusivo de energías renovables para la producción cero emisiones, siendo una planta diseñada para ser 100% propulsada por hidrógeno», afirman

El nacimiento de este proyecto se dio a conocer en la conferencia internacional The H2 Road to Net Zero, organizada por Bloomberg en colaboración con Snam e IRENA en Milán, durante las sesiones de trabajo previas a la COP 26 donde Federica Minozzi, CEO de Iris Ceramica Group, asistió como ponente. Y ahora, tanto la firma azulejera como Snam han puesto fecha a la cristalización de esta iniciativa.

The Iris Ceramica Group - that Iris Ceramica belongs to - and Snam have signed a memorandum of understanding for an industrial project involving the study and development of the world’s first ceramics factory powered by green hydrogen. The new Iris Ceramica Group production site, which will be completed in Castellarano (RE), will, by 2022, be equipped with native technologies allowing the use of green hydrogen as an energy source.

The industrial project was announced on Wednesday 29 September in Milan during the international event “The H2 Road to Net Zero”, organised by Bloomberg in cooperation with Snam and IRENA during the works ahead of COP26. Federica Minozzi, CEO of the Iris Ceramica Group, took part in the event, speaking during the session devoted to the use of hydrogen in the energy transition.

“Our Group has always been driven by a strong pioneering spirit and a constant attention to environmental sustainability, often acting as a trailblazer in the ceramic world, a highly energy-consuming industrial sector due to the type of production processes marked by highly energy-intensive manufacturing. Within this manufacturing scenario, our actions have always been underlined by the Economy=Ecology equation, coined in the 1960s by my father Romano Minozzi, Chairman and Founder of the Group, indicating the road we were to take with a view to environmental sustainability,” declared Federica Minozzi, C.E.O. of the Iris Ceramica Group. “We can proudly state that this equation has translated into concrete action over the years, and the completion of the world’s first ceramics factory genetically designed to run on green hydrogen is a clear demonstration of this. This industrial programme comes in addition to the many sustainable innovation projects we have implemented in 60 years of business activity.”

The solution developed by the Iris Ceramica Group with the support of Snam will allow the production site in Castellarano to immediately produce ceramic surfaces born from a blend of green hydrogen, produced from solar energy, and natural gas. A photovoltaic plant (with 2.5 MW power output) will be installed on the roof of the factory, combined with an electrolyser and a storage system for the renewable hydrogen produced on site. The solution using a blend of green hydrogen and natural gas will immediately lead to a reduction in CO2 emissions and, in the long term, will pave the way for the exclusive use of renewable energy for zero-emissions production, as the plant is designed to run on 100% hydrogen.