Companies from 5 countries are interested in Chilean green hydrogen

Corfo's Green Hydrogen Committee has received nine declarations of interest for the installation of electrolyser factories in our country.

Companies from countries including Spain, Italy, Belgium, the US and China have expressed their interest in developing various electrolyser manufacturing projects in the national territory to Corfo (Chilean economic development agency).

On June 15, the Request for Information (RFI) phase ended. It was a call to contribute to sustainable productive development and the creation of a green hydrogen industry, to accelerate the implementation of initiatives that contribute to decarbonization and a just energy transition in sectors that are difficult to tackle. It also aimed to identify companies interested in manufacturing and/or assembling electrolysers, their components and auxiliary systems in Chile and to define under what conditions they would be installed to supply the national and regional market.

Corfo's Green Hydrogen Committee worked together with InvestChile and different public-private stakeholders, both national and international, to enable the construction of a robust process that could be of interest to the entire industry.

Six of the expressions of interest contemplate the installation of manufacturing plants of 0.5GW - 1GW of electrolyser capacity per year, with estimated investments of between USD 50 and 100 million, varying the technologies between alkaline electrolysers (ALK), proton-conducting polymer electrolyte membranes (PEM) and solid oxide electrolysers (SOEC). In terms of employment, they indicate that each 1GW plant will generate around 100 direct jobs and occupy an area of around 20,000 m2.

Based on the results of this first stage, Corfo will convene a Request for Proposal (RFP) process, in which the initiatives previously proposed in the RFI stage must be specified in greater detail.

“Here is a commitment from the Chilean State to the country’s decarbonization. This RFI, in addition to many other initiatives being carried out in this sector, is key to outlining the private sector’s map of interest and the challenges faced by suppliers and investors of the green hydrogen value chain and, principally, it is an opportunity for more sophisticated productive activities to be developed in Chile, with participation or linkages with the local industry, thus enabling better job creation”, said the Executive Vice President of Corfo, José Miguel Benavente.

Identification of companies

The RFI makes it possible to identify companies from Spain, Italy, Belgium, the US and China that would be interested in installing their production plants in Chile and to understand how the different existing and potential future public instruments may or may not increase that interest and accelerate decisions; identify technological development requirements, R&D and necessary labour skills, and facilitate the creation of industrial and commercial alliances between national and international companies in the electrolyser supply chain, their components and auxiliary systems, considering economies of scale in production, continuous innovations and access to raw materials.