Helios Aragon is developing Europe’s first natural hydrogen production project in northern Spain and was designated a “project of regional significance” by the Government of Aragon in May 2023. The Monzon Field, discovered in the 1960’s, recorded high gas shows of pure hydrogen at a depth of 3,600m in a good quality sandstone reservoir overlain by a thick salt section. At the time, it was noted as a geological curiosity and the well was abandoned. The field structure is defined by modern 2D seismic and high-density gravity data. In 2022, an extensive surface geochemical survey was undertaken which recorded not only high levels of hydrogen above the field and major faults, but also helium which is deemed a “critical raw material” by the EU. The Monzon-2 appraisal well, to be drilled in the second half of 2025 at a cost of €12 million, will be the first of its kind in Europe – a well drilled to produce natural hydrogen.