EU and Chile partner on renewable hydrogen development
The European Union has signed two agreements with the Chilean government to provide €225 million ($246 million) in funding for renewable hydrogen production in the Latin American country.
PHOTO: The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, together with the President of the Republic of Chile, Gabriel Boric, at the Palacio de La Moneda in Chile. Delegation of the European Union to Chile
As part of the two agreements, the "Team Europe Hydrogen Fund in Chile" will be set up to finance projects related to renewable hydrogen production in Chile. This will have an allocation of €217 million ($237 million).
Chile will get another €8 million ($9 million) in a technical assistance program that will aim to promote renewable hydrogen through technological developments and knowledge sharing between the signatories.
"Green" hydrogen is made by splitting water with renewable electricity, giving it the potential to become a net-zero emission fuel. The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) estimates that hydrogen will make up as much as 12% of global energy use by 2050, with Chile among the top exporters because of its access to cheap renewable electricity.
By 2025, Chile aims to reach 5 GW of renewable energy capacity dedicated to hydrogen production. With this, and a string of other projects in development, the Chilean government believes it could produce up to 1.6 million mt/year of low-cost hydrogen by 2040.
The Port of Rotterdam, which expects to import around 4.6 million mt of green hydrogen by 2030, could become one of the main markets for Chilean green hydrogen. However, other locations would compete with Chile to supply Europe through Rotterdam.
In October 2022, Spain's Cepsa and the Port of Rotterdam partnered to build the first green hydrogen corridor linking Rotterdam and Algeciras.
By Debarati Bhattacharjee
Please get in touch with comments or additional info to news@engine.online
