Chile inaugurates its first green hydrogen production plant

The first industrial plant green hydrogen was inaugurated on Thursday in Santiago to charge the batteries of the forklift cranes of the supermarkets of the American group Walmart who developed this initiative together with the French energy firm engie.

The project, which according to the companies is the first in Latin America, involved an investment of US$15 million and is focused in a first stage on replacing the lead-acid batteries of 200 forklifts with hydrogen energy cells.

This “It is the first plant of its kind in Chili, industrial scale and renewable. From here, we want to expand the use of hydrogen technology. Our plan is to implement it in each distribution center of our logistics network throughout the country.”said Doug McMillon, the president and CEO of Walmart Inc.

The Finance Minister of ChiliMario Marcel, present at the event, indicated: “What we are seeing today with the inauguration of this plant is that Chile has the advantage of being able to show concrete progress, progress that we can see, that we can perceive.”.

The plant is located in a distribution center of the US company in the north of Santiago and thanks to this conversion of the crane batteries, CO2 emissions are expected to be reduced by 1,140 tons per year, which is equivalent to planting 2,280 trees in that period.

In addition, that will mean a reduction of about 200 tons of lead-acid battery waste in 12 months.

He green hydrogen It is obtained by electrolysis of water (the separation of oxygen from hydrogen) from renewable energies.

Chile aims to be one of the three main world exporters of this energy by 2040.

He green hydrogen it does not emit greenhouse gases and offers the opportunity to decarbonise sectors in which electrification would not be viable, such as industry, heavy or long-distance transport.

It also improves energy security, when stored for long periods.

Source: AFP