Ten tips to apply for funding for green hydrogen projects in Chile

Corfo has launched a round of US$50 million in financing to leverage Green Hydrogen projects among both domestic and foreign companies.

Green hydrogen is an essential part of Chile’s plan for carbon neutrality. Our country has the potential to create the cheapest green hydrogen on the planet, at a production cost of US$1.3 per kilogram by 2030 and less than US$1 in the long term.

Chile’s National Green Hydrogen Strategy was created to stimulate the production of this energy in the country, and Chile’s Economic Development Agency (Corfo) has launched a round of US$50 million in financing to leverage Green Hydrogen projects among both domestic and foreign companies.

In this note, we present the ten points that you need to know if your company wants to apply for these grants.

1. Purpose. The purpose of the call is to select one or more projects to receive an investment grant for electrolyzers for the development of new green hydrogen projects in Chile, greater than 10 MW, for commissioning no later than December 2025.

2. Amount. The maximum amount of funding available is US$50 million, which can be granted starting in 2022; the maximum grant that can be awarded to a single project is US$30 million.

3. Type of projects. Grants are only available to co-finance activities anticipated in a new investment project in Chile, specifically fixed assets for the production of Green Hydrogen, which may include electrolyzers, their installation facilities and ancillary systems required for their operation.

4. Risk rating. Applicants must have and present an international risk rating report equal to or higher than BBB- or Baa3, which must be no older than 12 months prior to the presentation of the proposal.

5. Sales. Applicants must have and demonstrate sales in 2019 or 2020, in excess of UF 600,000 (UF is a Chilean index-based unit) or its equivalent in foreign currency (approximately US$ 25 million).

6. Foreign companies. If a proposal from a foreign company is selected, it must have a legal entity (public limited, joint stock or limited liability) or subsidiary in Chile that that will be answerable to Corfo for project implementation. If it does not have such a legal entity or subsidiary, it has twelve months from the moment the grant is approved to form one, otherwise Corfo can terminate the agreement early.

7. Proposal. Parties interested in participating must present a project proposal that includes the construction and startup of a new Green Hydrogen production plant in Chile, with commissioning no later than December 2025.
   The project may include other production stages, prior to or subsequent to Green Hydrogen production, however Corfo will specifically co-finance activities including electrolyzers, their installation facilities and ancillary systems required for their operation, and therefore the technical characteristics and investments in each part of the project must be clearly identified in the proposal.

8. Evaluation. Proposals will be ranked from 1 to 5 (where 1 is the lowest and 5 is the highest) and scoring will be based on the following table:

9. Questions. Questions will be received by Corfo at hidrogenoverde@corfo.cl until July 9, 2021. No questions will be accepted if sent through a different channel or after the date indicated.

10. Application deadline. Applications will be received until 11:59 pm on September 6, 2021. Only proposals that have successfully completed all the steps of the application process by this date and time will be considered.

For more information please refer to the Corfo website.