Colombia to present hydrogen roadmap in H1 2021
Colombia’s Minister of Energy and Mining Diego Mesa Puyo has announced that his government is fully committed to revive the country energy market and make hydrogen a part of the county energy mix. The Ministry plans to release the country’s hydrogen roadmap in the first half of 2021. The strategy will set an outline to integrate hydrogen as a new energy source over the next ten years. The Inter-American Development Bank’s will also support the country energy sector.
During the presentation, he highlighted energy transition, energy security and mining diversification. He emphasised the renewable energy and said that this year the total accumulated renewable energy would reach 700 MW. A total of 530 MW renewable capacity will be installed from 37 new projects, out of which 36 will be solar energy and one will be a wind power plant.
Colombia will also conduct an auction for energy storage with battery storage system; the project will be first of its kind in the whole of Latin America. The country also plans to announce incentives for electric mobility and expand charging infrastructure.
Previously, Mr Mesa said that his 10- year plan for hydrogen economy would assess the potential sources for both green and blue hydrogen in the country, and explore market opportunities across various end-use segments with export possibilities.
Neighbouring Chile is also quite active to make hydrogen as a part of the energy mix. On 3rd November 2020, the Chilean Ministry of Energy announced its National Green Hydrogen Strategy with three main objectives: to start developing 5 GW of electrolysis capacity by 2025; be among the cheapest producer of green hydrogen in the world by 2030; rank in the top three world largest hydrogen exporters by 2040.
