In order to work together on the establishment of a green hydrogen and ammonia production company in Chile, Sumitomo Corporation and Colbun, a major Chilean power generating and energy solutions provider, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding.
Chile is one of the world’s most advantageous regions for solar power generation in the north and wind power generation in the south. It stretches over 4,300 km from near the equator down to Antarctica. Electricity prices make up a sizable portion of the costs associated with producing green hydrogen and ammonia, and Chile’s tremendous potential for low-cost production utilizing renewable energy is drawing interest from all over the world. Chile’s National Green Hydrogen Strategy, which was unveiled in 2020, aims to make Chile one of the top three hydrogen exporters in the world by 2040 and create the most competitive green hydrogen production system in the world by 2030.
With the help of this MOU, firms in northern and southern Chile will be able to produce and export green hydrogen and ammonia. A large-scale photovoltaic power production project and port facilities held by Interacid Trading Chile S.A., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sumitomo Corporation, are two ways that Colbun is expanding its operations in the north. In the south, wind power generation is how it is expanding.
Achieving stable operation of hydrogen and ammonia production facilities by managing output fluctuations from the power sources employed is the main technical and financial issue of using renewable energy to manufacture green hydrogen and ammonia. Sumitomo Corporation will use its experience in company development and operation developed in a variety of industries, along with that of its partner Colbun, to try to address this problem.
Sumitomo Corporation and other Japanese businesses started a feasibility study on constructing a green hydrogen and ammonia supply chain from Chile to Japan in April 2022 before this MOU was signed.
