This week, Corfo issued a call for proposals to award up to US$30 million in funding to one or more projects that install more than 10 MW of renewable generation capacity in the country for hydrogen production by the end of 2025. The total budget that Corfo can allocate is US$50 million, to be disbursed starting in 2022. Both local and international players are eligible to apply. The call for proposals is part of a government strategy to make Chile a world-class hydrogen producer and exporter. During the expression of interest process held in December, Corfo received submissions for 18 projects, with a total estimated investment of US$12,000 million in Atacama and Antofagasta. 

Chile has the potential for more than 1,800 GW of renewable capacity—70 times the country’s current demand—and at a low cost, which would make it one of the most competitive countries in the world for hydrogen production. For more information, please visit https://www.corfo.cl/sites/cpp/hidrogeno-verde-chile. 

Several projects are currently in the early stages, such as HIF in Magallanes, which aims to produce synthetic fuels from green hydrogen generated using wind power, and HyEx, in the north of the country, which aims to produce green ammonia from hydrogen generated using solar power. The production costs of green hydrogen are still higher than those of traditional methods (using natural gas or coal, which produce CO2 emissions) or production methods that include CO2 capture (so-called “blue hydrogen”). A study by the Belgian engineering firm Tractebel, cited by Corfo, indicates that Atacama and Antofagasta could achieve a production cost of between US$1.8 and US$3.03 by 2023.