Colombia has become a regional and global benchmark in the Energy Transition, so much so that the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and the International Energy Forum (IEF) highlighted the country as one of the most relevant players in the zero and low-emission hydrogen market.
Thus, Colombia, with the roadmap drawn up for the production of this energy source, is already on the radar to become one of the main exporters.
In its most recent report, the IEF included Colombia for the first time in the world map of hydrogen trade routes, and incidentally highlighted it as one of the four countries with foreign sales of this energy in Latin America, along with Brazil, Chile and Argentina.
And, according to the Hydrogen Roadmap, the country has the potential to become from 2030 one of the main exporters of green hydrogen in Latin America, thanks to the characteristics of its winds, solar radiation, water resources and geographical location, the necessary inputs for its production for domestic and international consumption.
“Thus, the Nation is not only positioned as one of the largest exporters of this element, but is the main reference in Latin America, next to Brazil, Chile and Argentina,” stressed Diego Mesa, Minister of Mines and Energy.
In addition, Irena highlighted that the Nation has the potential to have in 2050 the fourth lowest price of green hydrogen (US$1.1/Kh2), surpassed only by China, Chile and Morocco.
“This is the other international report on hydrogen trade in which Colombia appears, the Irena lists 34 countries with the capacity to trace competitive hydrogen prices in the world markets, and in which the country appears in fourth place in terms of its low price,” stressed Minister Mesa.
The Roadmap
One of the objectives of the Hydrogen Roadmap is that by 2030 the goal was set to reach a production of 50 kilotons (kt) of blue hydrogen, and between 1 and 3 gigawatts (GW) of installed electrolysis capacity to produce green hydrogen.
The first step has already been taken by the companies Ecopetrol and Promigas, with the start-up of two pilot projects for hydrogen production in the Mamonal sector, in Cartagena.
It is also estimated that the development of this energy source will allow the reduction of between 2.5 and 3 million tons of CO2 in the next decade in the country, and investments in this type of projects can attract resources between US$2,500 and US$5,500 million between now and 2030.
“Colombia is beginning to position itself as one of the great powers in the short and medium term in hydrogen exports thanks to the abundance of resources for its production in the country, such as electrolyzers,” said the Minister of Mines and Energy.
According to the roadmap established by the Nation for the industrial scale development of energy, the regions with the most favorable conditions to produce green hydrogen are: Northern Caribbean, from wind and solar energy, and the Northern Andes, also from solar.
“In the year 2030, Colombia will already have a production of green hydrogen at US$1.7 per kilogram (kg),” Mesa stressed.
For its part, blue hydrogen, as a transition alternative to green hydrogen for Colombia, will concentrate its production in the Caribbean Coast and the center of the country.
The objectives in terms of hydrogen demand are that between 1,500 and 2,000 light battery vehicles will use it as fuel, as well as between 1,000 and 1,500 heavy vehicles will also consume it.
In addition to the two pilot projects, and a third to enter the country in the coming months, the Ministry of Mines and Energy is already structuring 13 large-scale projects for the production of green hydrogen, to which would be added another to generate blue hydrogen with capture and geological storage for industrial uses.
