The European Commission will fund the first green hydrogen station in Cyprus which will contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, it was announced on Friday.

This is the first time that a Cypriot project was approved for funding from the European Commission’s innovation fund, said MCK Future Fuels Ltd of the Ketonis Holdings group, which is among the entities that collaborated on the project.

Named GreenH2CY, the green hydrogen production and refuelling station is considered groundbreaking, the company said, not only in Cyprus but also in the whole of Europe. It explained that it contributes to greenhouse gas emission reduction targets while promoting decarbonisation in the transport sector.

The project envisages the installation and operation of a PEM-type electrolyser. The hydrogen plant is expected to produce 150 tonnes of hydrogen fuel per year. This is equivalent to 627 tonnes of diesel fuel per year. The energy will be supplied by a local renewable energy supplier using Guarantees of Origin (GOs) to demonstrate the use of only renewable energy sources, so that the final product can be classified as green.

According to the announcement, the water used will come from tertiary wastewater treatment by the Larnaca water development department, thus contributing to circular economy actions.

For the first step, the final product will be used in the transport sector, more specifically for light and heavy-duty vehicles, to replace diesel vehicles.

MCK Future Fuels Ltd and Ketonis Holdings thanked all those who contributed to the approval of the project, namely the competent ministers of energy, agriculture, transport, and research, as well as the energy and environmental consultants of ideopsis Ltd, who contributed to the writing of the proposal.