Viamed Salud is to create the first hospital-based plant in Spain for the generation of green H2 and O2 using renewable energy

The project will be developed in cooperation with Exolum which, as technological partner, will provide its expertise and know-how in the market of green hydrogen generation.

 The project will be developed throughout 2022 at the Viamed San José Hospital in Alcantarilla (Murcia) and will make it possible to produce and store medical oxygen, which is an ‘essential medicine’ for the treatment of different lung diseases.

The development of this project represents a highly significant and innovative milestone, which is in line with the Viamed E30 Sustainability Plan, specifically with its commitment to eliminate the CO2 footprint at its facilities.

Viamed Salud will become the first hospital group in Spain to develop and implement a facility that generates and consumes O2 and H2 through electrolysis of water using renewable energy. The facility will be installed in the Viamed San José Hospital located in Alcantarilla (Murcia) and it represents a clear commitment to making this an innovative hospital while promoting sustainability and respect for the environment.

As part of Viamed’s strategy to manage a network of CO2-neutral hospitals, which aims to reduce the environmental impact at all centres to a minimum, the group’s hospital in Murcia is to launch a pioneering pilot programme in Spain which will generate, store and consume green H2 and O2 thanks to a combination of a photovoltaic plant, an electrolysis plant and a pure H2 boiler. It will thus be the most autonomous hospital from an energy perspective as it will have its own O2 and energy supply.

Today, the autonomous generation of medical O2, with purity above 99%, is particularly important as, according to the World Health Organization, it is an ‘essential medicine’ for treating Covid-19, a pandemic which has caused annual demand of O2 to increase by up to 50%.

Exolum, a pioneer and leader in these technologies, will participate in the development of this project as technological partner and will provide its expertise and know-how in the technology and development of this type of facility.

The design of the facility has been developed by the engineering company Técnicas Reunidas, in cooperation with Ennomotive, specialists in technological innovation. The facility will allow energy to be stored in the form of H2 and O2 from excess photovoltaic generation, as well as taking advantage of it in order to reduce the carbon footprint. Among other advantages, this makes it possible for the hospital to consume O2 generated on-site, thus reducing the transportation footprint of its suppliers to a minimum, and to use H2 for heating instead of the
natural gas boilers. During subsequent stages, it will be possible to produce more H2 and use it, for example, in the generation of air conditioning for the hospital itself.

According to Paulo Gonçalves, CEO of the Viamed Salud Group: “One of our commitments is based on innovation, sustainability and technology for the benefit of society. With this plant, we aim to develop this commitment to technology and the environment at our Viamed San José Hospital and progress towards our objective: to become one of the first hospitals to have a neutral CO2 footprint.”