The Argentine president, Alberto Fernandezrecognized this Sunday that there “a problem” in the millionaire project of green hydrogen of fortescue in the South American country that has to do “with extra conditions” that the Australian company asks for.
“We want the investment to be made and we have confidence in that company. Some of the proposals are difficult to fulfill under these conditions, for example, a special dollar like the one for soybeans. We are working to resolve those issues.”said the president in an interview with the portal elDiarioAr.
The Argentine president was asked if the Fortescue mining company’s project to invest 8.4 billion dollars until 2028 in Argentina to produce green hydrogen on an industrial scale in the southern province of Río Negro was at risk, as announced at the COP26 climate summit. at the end of 2021.
Argentina applies strong restrictions to the official exchange market, the so-called “exchange stocks”which forces exporters to settle their currencies at an exchange rate of half the parallel exchange rates that proliferate due to these restrictions and makes it difficult to transfer currency.
To improve exchange competitiveness, Argentina created differential exchange rates for some export sectors, such as the soybean complex, the “special dollar” to which the president referred that Fortescue raises.
The president was asked if the risk was due to the lack of sanction of a green hydrogen promotion law, that after reports in the Argentine media that Fortescue was going to invest in Brazil, Argentina this week hurried the shipment of the project of law to Congress.
“There is no problem with the law, but with a series of extra conditions that are requested”Fernandez replied.
The Secretary of Energy, Flavia Royon, confirmed this week the submission of the Hydrogen bill to the Argentine Congress at the Global Green Hydrogen Forum 2023 that took place in Bariloche, in Río Negro, a regulatory framework that contemplates fiscal stability for 30 years and the integration of local value chains.
Fortescue Future Industries had begun last September the survey work for the evaluation of the environmental and social impact of the Pampas project in the Río Negro town of Punta Colorada.
Source: EFE
Source: Gestion
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