Chile has consolidated its position as a leader in the production of synthetic fuels, marking a milestone in the automotive industry with the use of e-fuels in the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup.
In Chilean Patagonia, a team made up of members of different companies—including owner HIF Global, co-founders Porsche and Enel, ExxonMobil, and Enap, among others—joined forces to do something that had never been done before.
The Haru Oni hydrogen plant, which initiated operations in Chile’s Magallanes Region in 2021, is a pioneering project. Electricians, mechanical engineers, project managers, and many other experts in their respective fields are working at the frontiers of human knowledge to advance the energy transition.
Production of e-fuels in Chile
In September 2021, the production of synthetic fuels was initiated in Chile with the opening of the world’s first e-fuel plant.
This pilot plant, in which Porsche holds a significant share, is focused on demonstrating the potential of e-fuels in combustion engines, both for sports cars and race cars.
With a total investment of US$78 million, the Haru Oni plant has a surface area of 3.7 hectares and a production capacity of 130,000 liters of e-fuel per year.
It has a 3.4 MW wind turbine and a 1.2 MW electrolyzer, using renewable wind power and electrolysis to produce green hydrogen.
The project captures CO₂ from a biogenic source and uses a synthesis process to combine the CO₂ and hydrogen, producing e-fuels such as synthetic green gasoline (e-gasoline) and synthetic green liquefied gas (e-LG).
This fuel also enables the existing infrastructure to become low carbon by continuously reusing the CO₂.
E-fuels at the race track
World-renowned luxury sports car manufacturer Porsche was the first automotive company to promote the development of synthetic fuels in the south of Chile.
This year marked a new milestone. During the 2024 season of the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup, all 911 GT3 Cup cars with 510 hp registered in the championship had almost neutral CO₂ emissions thanks to this innovative fuel.
According to Porsche, the amount of synthetic fuel being produced today is still small at 130,000 liters per year, but the company plans to scale up to 55 million liters per year by 2026 and 550 million liters per year by the end of this decade.
Impact and benefits of e-fuels
Synthetic fuels are equivalent to fossil fuels in terms of engine performance, and they can be used in any vehicles without modifications.
They also have the advantage of being cleaner for engines because they do not contain elements such as sulfur, as they are obtained through synthesis rather than being refined from fossil fuels.
HIF’s goal is to become the world’s largest e-fuel manufacturer, producing 150,000 barrels per day of e-fuels by 2035, capturing more than 25 million tons of CO₂, and transforming 5 million vehicles.
To find out more about renewable energy and green hydrogen investment in Chile, see this article.
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