Chile is looking to Europe for investors for its solar, wind and green hydrogen energy projects, hoping to decarbonize and develop its copper mines and industry, dependent on coal and oil.
“Chile is the only country in the world that can aspire to become carbon neutral (net zero) by 2040″ said Marcos Kulka, general director of H2Chile, a Chilean association that brings together 102 public and private companies, in an interview with AFP in Paris at the beginning of February at the Hyvolution hydrogen fair.
His visit took place in the midst of the negotiation of the EU-Chile trade and investment liberalization framework agreement.
Reliant on imported oil and coal, Chile plans to close its coal-fired power plants by 2040, replacing them with renewable energy, which in turn will be used to produce green hydrogen.
According to Kulka, 24% of the country’s CO2 emissions reduction “will come from hydrogen and its derivatives” to decarbonize heavy industry, especially copper mining.
Chile is the world’s leading exporter of this crucial metal for the global energy transition, but at the same time it must reduce the volumes of CO2 that are emitted during its extraction.
To achieve this, the South American country has solar energy in the north, near the Atacama Desert and copper mining areas, says Kulka, and wind in the south, ideal for wind farms.
Chile can become “one of the most competitive green hydrogen producers in the world“, because ““More than 60% of the final cost of hydrogen comes from the price of the electricity used to produce it.”
Ammonia
“It would be irresponsible to say that green hydrogen will prevent“tragedies such as the large fires in Chile, admitted on Tuesday Cristian Sagal, a Chilean diplomat based in France, an investment specialist.
The recently announced green hydrogen plan is only “one of the answers“possible for”decarbonize its economy and contribute to the essential reduction of global emissions.”
Chili “Hydrogen is needed to reduce CO2 emissions from trucks loaded with ore, for explosives used in mines, and for the energy of maritime transport.“, details Kulka.
AND “chemical industrialists need it” to decarbonize their activities.
In total, Chile estimates its investment needs at “US$60 billion by 2050″ for green hydrogen, according to this expert.
The abundance and low costs of renewable energies attract numerous European industrialists such as Austria Energy, the French Engie, TotalEnergies or EDF, as well as German, Dutch or Norwegian investors, eager to import green hydrogen to Europe.
For now, Chile’s capabilities in terms of green hydrogen production by electrolysis – the operation that separates hydrogen and oxygen molecules from water (H2O) using electricity – are low.
Its installed capacity is barely “2 megawatts.” Its goal is to reach “25 gigawatts” of capacity by 2030, Kulka explains.
The country is mainly committed to the production of ammonia, which is used to make agricultural fertilizers, and would later be used as a hydrogen carrier. Importing countries should “break” the NH3 molecule of ammonia upon the arrival of ships to obtain hydrogen.
Ports
In total, 64 industrial projects are planned around green hydrogen, with investments “close to US$ 5,000 million by 2025″. “Seven or eight should receive a final investment decision before the end of the first half of the year.””says Kulka.
By 2030, the country plans to produce between 1 and 3 million tons of hydrogen.
To this end, it is reorganizing its port infrastructure adapted to the import and distribution of oil and gas, to also be able to export ammonia.
“We are moving quickly”Gloria Maldonado, director of the Chilean state oil company ENAP, also present in Paris, tells AFP.
Given these large projects, 100 associations defending human rights and the environment have just warned in a joint statement about the draft investment liberalization agreement.
The text “is strategic for the EU to access Chilean raw materials, but it should not be done at any price,” emphasizes Mathilde Dupré, co-president of the Veblen research group, signatory of the letter.
According to her, “The project offers very favorable protection standards for foreign investors, without imposing anything on human and social rights or the environment in Chile.”.
Source: Gestion
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