Sicily’s Green Hydrogen Pilot Takes Shape at the Duferco Plant

Construction is well underway at the Hy2Market pilot site in Giammoro, Sicily, where a green hydrogen electrolysis plant is being built next to an existing power turbine. The goal? Co-burning natural gas and hydrogen right next to the production source to supply power during times of peak demand. Civil works are progressing on site and key equipment is already arriving, with the plant on track to be complete by the end of October.

At the heart of the pilot is a containerised electrolyzer, currently being tested in Milan by Hy2Market partner De Nora before it heads south to Sicily by the end of September. Once installed, it will produce around 20 kg of hydrogen an hour using demineralised water drawn from a well on site. The hydrogen will then be compressed and stored at 200 bar in a 200 kg buffer, built and operated by Sicilian SME Power Evolution.

From there, the hydrogen will be blended with natural gas — up to 15% — and fed into an existing peaker turbine at the site, owned by Duferco and supplied via the regional gas network operated by Snam. The turbine, already built to run on hydrogen blends, currently operates on natural gas for one to two hours a day to help balance the Italian grid. The pilot’s aim is to show that part of that fuel can be swapped for hydrogen produced right there on site — avoiding the extra cost and emissions of trucking or piping hydrogen in from elsewhere.

CNR-ITAE, which leads the technical work behind the pilot, has modelled the hydrogen blend extensively, including its effect on emissions — nitrogen oxide levels are expected to hold steady, thanks to the different flame temperature and the turbine’s steam-based cooling system.

One milestone still lies ahead: an environmental permit from the Sicilian region, submitted and now awaited. If it arrives as hoped in November, the team will have December and January to commission and test the plant — turning today’s construction site into one of Hy2Market’s live demonstrations of green hydrogen produced and used in the same place.