Green hydrogen in Chile: an opportunity for a new development model

When Chile talks about a new development model, green hydrogen is always mentioned. And why could this industry be a protagonist in this process? Because in its production it uses renewable energy and has the potential to replace much of fossil fuels, which would reduce greenhouse gases, contributing to the fight against the climate crisis.
If for these reasons there was already much worldwide interest in advancing in the industry, today because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the subsequent urgency of European countries to become independent of gas, that interest increased. Within the framework of this COP27, the Inter-American Development Bank and the World Bank signed an agreement with Chile to promote green hydrogen projects in the country, with amounts reaching US$400 million and up to US$350 million, respectively.
Are we ready as a country for this industry to be an example of the new development model? See. In Magallanes there is already a pilot of private companies with a wind turbine and last August they presented to the Environmental Assessment System a project of 65 wind turbines. The companies withdrew the initiative, in its initial phase, on the grounds that public bodies had gone too far in requesting information. This situation generated a lot of public debate, pointing out by some, uninformedly, that they were “slamming doors” to investment. The companies have already clarified that they will re-enter the project with the requested information, apparently there were no excesses.
This first experience makes it clear that we have a long way to go if we want this industry to be a sample of a new development model for Chile that preserves ecosystems, eradicates sacrifice zones, listens to communities and makes them part of the decisions. Also to ensure decent jobs and boost the local economy.
For this, the communities – in this case the regions of Magallanes and Antofagasta – and the industry require certainties and clear rules. This Government has set up an Interministerial Committee that is reinforcing the ‘National Green Hydrogen Strategy’ launched by the previous administration. Listening to the regions requires the Committee to sit in them and for the National Strategy to be regionalized, clearly indicating what the objectives will be in each region. Today there are 7 companies trying to settle in Magallanes, and obviously the localities are beginning to wonder about the environmental externalities that projects of this magnitude can entail, since they need to desalinate water, thousands of hectares to install wind turbines and port infrastructure.
If we want Magallanes to be an example of this new development model, we require a ‘Regional Green Hydrogen Strategy’ that is built with citizen participation, which allows the community to know the scope of the industry and, to the latter, know from now on how it should be installed in our country in an environmentally friendly way. At COP27, Magellan was highlighted as a ‘sentinel of climate change’ for its conservation capacity, its pristine seas, its access to Antarctica and its landscapes that make it a climate refuge. None of this can be put at risk to decarbonize the rest of the world.
This regional version of the National Strategy should contemplate territorial planning mechanisms, where the most appropriate places to install their desalination plants and ports are determined, conserving their protected areas. And also, submit to a ‘Strategic Environmental Assessment’ that allows us to know, today, how far the green hydrogen industry can go without risking the conservative potential and sentinel character of one of the richest regions in biodiversity in the world.

If we want to show Chile and the world what this new development model is concretely, the green hydrogen industry must be installed in harmony among all participants, with a strategy that decentralizes decisions from the capital to the regions and that enables us to lead the transformation of the energy matrix at the regional level. national and international.

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Original source in Spanish