Edison Next and Iris Ceramica Group cooperate on H2 Factory™

A project to build the first ceramic slab factory powered by green hydrogen has entered the second stage.

In July, Iris Ceramica Group and Edison Next (Edison Group) signed an agreement for the development of H2 Factory™, the new production facility in Castellarano (Reggio Emilia) that will use green hydrogen produced by a custom-built state-of-the-art system.

Giovanni Brianza, CEO of Edison Next, commented: “Accompanying Iris Ceramica Group on its journey towards the energy transition marks an important first step in the decarbonisation of an important industry for our country. This project, which focuses on the production and use of green hydrogen in an industrial application, is part of Edison’s strategy of investing in this energy carrier and is one of many such projects for industrial customers.”

The partnership between Iris Ceramica Group and Edison Next has now reached the beginning of the second stage. The first step towards decarbonisation has been successfully completed after a year and a half of hard work on the feasibility study and construction of the H2 Factory™ site. The facility meets the very high design standards necessary to accommodate the green hydrogen production plant and is equipped with rainwater collection tanks, photovoltaic panels and hydrogen production and storage areas. All the infrastructure required for hydrogen distribution inside the facility has also been prepared.

H2 Factory™ will be hydrogen-powered from 2025 onwards and will produce large 4D ceramic slabs (the fourth dimension refers to sustainability) in 12 mm and 20 mm thicknesses.

“Although the unprecedented scenarios of recent years have changed the paradigms and forced us to rethink our business plan, we have continued to work with perseverance and have chosen the best synergies,” said Federica Minozzi, CEO of Iris Ceramica Group. “The challenge is to achieve major CO2 savings within the next two years and to set an example for the ceramic sector, demonstrating that even an energy-intensive industry can become a virtuous model for the transition to net zero. With the technical support of Edison Next, we aim to reach carbon neutrality in our ceramic slab production process by 2030.”

As part of Iris Ceramica Group’s €50 million investment in the new hydrogen-powered H2 Factory™, Edison Next will build a 1 MW capacity plant for the production of green hydrogen by electrolysis from renewable sources. The electrolyser will use rainwater recovered from the collection tanks, thereby promoting virtuous water management. The project will also include an additional photovoltaic system with a capacity of approximately 1.2 MW to complement the existing capacity of about 2 MW.

The hydrogen will be used to power the kiln (in up to about a 50% hydrogen-natural gas blend), while a kiln that will run on 100% hydrogen is at the study stage.

The expected production of about 132 tonnes of green hydrogen per year will replace approximately 500,000 cubic metres of natural gas per year. This will bring an immediate reduction in carbon dioxide emissions and save around 900 tonnes of CO2 per year.