The steam reforming of ethanol could be a solution to reduce CO2 emissions in industrial hydrogen plants, given its renewable character. To adapt this process into the Repsol refineries, a scheme with pre-reforming section has been considered. Ethanol steam reforming has been tested using a commercial nickel catalyst at industrial pre-reforming conditions, particularly at high pressure (25 bar). In addition, a new "Ethanol-to-shift" process using a commercial water gas shift (WGS) catalyst to convert ethanol is proposed. The pilot plant tests show that complete ethanol conversion is reached at low space velocity (WHSV < 1 h(-1)) or at high temperature (400 degrees C), with predominance of methane formation. The commercial nickel catalyst is stable for at least 530 h due to the use of high hydrogen partial pressure to inhibit coke deposition. Then, it has been proven that it is a technically feasible process for industrial scale. The WGS catalyst (Fe-Cr), however, does not achieve full conversion even at very high temperature. An economic analysis indicates that the steam reforming process would only be viable with a low price of ethanol (around 350 em, which is far from the current market price. Copyright (C) 2014, Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.