Environmental green light for the green hydrogen pilot plant in Cuenca

The General Directorate of Environmental Quality of the Department of Sustainable Development of the Regional Government of Castilla-La Mancha has ruled that the biogas and green hydrogen research, development, and innovation plant promoted by the Provincial Council of Cuenca does not require an ordinary environmental impact assessment. The decision is contained in the Resolution of 10/13/2026, published in the Official Gazette of Castilla-La Mancha number 217, dated November 12, 2026, under reference 2026/8033. The report clears the way for the installation planned for the Los Palancares Circular Economy Science and Technology Park, in the municipality of Cuenca.

The ruling complies with Law 2/2020, of February 7, on Environmental Assessment of Castilla-La Mancha, which allows for the dismissal of the ordinary route when the project, included in Annex II, does not present significant effects. The action falls under group 9.b of Law 21/2013, of December 9, and group 9.e of the regional regulation, referring to waste recovery facilities and thermal treatments such as gasification.

File S478/2025/DG/00061 began on November 26, 2025, when the General Directorate of Circular Economy and Agenda 2030, as the substantive body, submitted the request along with the environmental document from June 2025 and the basic project from October 2024. The initiative is financed by the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan, as part of the complementary R&D&i plans agreed upon between the General State Administration and the Regional Government of Castilla-La Mancha.

Five pilot plants in the hamlet of Mohorte

The facility will be located on plot 12 of polygon 505, Hoyada Las Vacas area, hamlet of Mohorte, with cadastral reference 16900D505000120000WK, corresponding to resulting plot R25.M5-IND.01 of the Los Palancares special interest plan. The plot totals 179,162 m² and the affected area is 100,097.50 m², of which 29,972 m² are for productive industrial use.

The complex, named NPIDi CNH2, will bring together five pilot plants that are initially independent and interconnectable:

• alkaline electrolysis, to produce hydrogen and oxygen;
• biomass gasification, to generate bio-syngas;
• anaerobic digestion and biogas upgrading;
• methanol production;
• hydrocarbon production via the Fischer-Tropsch process.

Each plant will operate for a maximum of eight hours per day and only one day per week, without a commercial productive nature, and the products will be used for self-consumption or removed by an authorized manager.

Areas, consumption, and water supply

The project provides for 3,068.17 m² of built area, well below the 11,644.47 m²/u.a. attributed to the plot. The distribution includes:

• industrial warehouse of 1,506.17 m²;
• prefabricated office and laboratory modules of 381 m², with 173 m² of laboratory;
• storage area of 800 m²;
• parking areas of 306.85 m² with 20 spaces;
• self-consumption photovoltaic plant of 1,300 m²;
• internal roads and accesses of 1,730 m².

Municipal water consumption is estimated at approximately 2,050 liters per month for both process and domestic uses, without direct extraction of surface or groundwater, via connection to the scientific park’s networks, whose favorable environmental impact statement was published in DOCM number 235, dated December 4, 2025.

Rejected allegations and conditions

Around twenty organizations were consulted, including the Cuenca City Council, the Júcar Hydrographic Confederation, and the Castilla-La Mancha Water Agency. Ecologistas en Acción de La Manchuela requested an ordinary evaluation due to the proximity of the Complejo Lagunar del río Moscas micro-reserve, and Ecología y Libertad demanded the suspension of the processing due to the judicial situation of the Los Palancares plan, approved by the Governing Council on May 25, 2023 (DOCM number 109, dated June 9). Both objections are rejected with justification.

The conditions require, among other obligations:

• evaluating the application of Royal Decree 840/2015 on major accidents involving dangerous substances;
• preparing a self-protection plan against forest fires;
• submitting a preliminary soil report within two years, according to Royal Decree 9/2005;
• reporting the activity to the Capca catalog, fitting into group B, code 09 10 06 00;
• submitting annual monitoring reports between January 1 and March 31.

A high-value natural environment less than one kilometer away

Although the plot lies outside the Natura 2000 Network, the surrounding area includes the Complejo Lagunar del río Moscas micro-reserve less than one kilometer away, the SAC ES4230008 about 1,000 meters away, the SPA-SAC Serranía de Cuenca at 650 meters, the Palancares and Tierra Muerta Natural Monument, the critical area of the Bonelli’s eagle, and the public utility forest number 106, covering 4,906.31 hectares. Therefore, measures are imposed on the karstic hydrogeological system, the separate network for rainwater and leachates, the archaeological control of the works, and the monitoring of avifauna.

The report is valid for four years from its publication, extendable for two more, and arrives signed in Toledo by the Director General of Environmental Quality, Tomás Villarrubia Lázaro. With this, the urban and sectoral processing is cleared for a facility intended to strengthen research in renewable hydrogen, biogas, and synthetic fuels, and to consolidate the technology park as a circular economy hub for the province of Cuenca.

Source: Official Gazette of Castilla-La Mancha, no. 217, November 12, 2026, section III (Other provisions and acts), pp. 39938-39951 (official reference: 2026/8033).