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Early-stage production projects include a It is envisaged that the pair could start pro-
10-MW electrolyser that Royal Dutch Shell and duction at pilot projects in 2024, according to a
the UK’s ITM Power began building last year draft of the ministry’s strategy.
at the Rheinland oil refinery in Wesseling. The Europe’s end-goal is green hydrogen, how-
plant would be the largest of its kind in the world. ever, with the EU viewing other types of non-re-
The Netherlands and Italy are developing newable hydrogen as only transition fuels. Russia
similar initiatives. The Netherlands is primar- therefore has only a limited window for estab-
ily focused on green hydrogen, which it views lishing hydrogen exports but it be could locked
as a means of storing excess supply from its 4.5 out of the market eventually.
GW of wind power capacity. But it also sees blue
hydrogen as important for establishing a market If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping
for the fuel in the shorter term. One venture is the former Soviet Union’s oil and gas sector then please
H-Vision, a plan backed by BP, ExxonMobil and click here for NewsBase’s FSU Monitor.
Shell, to capture hydrogen from offshore gas and
store the carbon produced from the process in Latin American potential
depleted North Sea reservoirs. The IEA identified Chile as a potential future
Italy’s pioneering work has been in the trans- source of low-cost green hydrogen in its recent
port of hydrogen. Its national gas transmission Energy Technology Perspectives 2020 report,
system operator Snam estimates that up to 7bn and officials in Santiago appear to be keen on
cubic metres per year of hydrogen could be fed this possibility.
into its grid – equal to the amount of gas needed In late August, Chilean Energy Minister
to cover the demand of 3mn families. This would Juan Carlos Jobet told the Financial Times
mean a 90:10 ratio between methane and hydro- that his country might be in a position to
gen. The company announced in July that it had export $30bn worth of green hydrogen by
finished testing the world’s first hybrid hydro- 2050, thanks to its decision to invest heavily in
gen-blend turbine for gas networks, designed by solar power generation capacity. This is equiv-
Baker Hughes. alent to Chile’s current earnings from copper
exports, Jobet noted.
If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping But Chile is not the only Latin American
Europe’s oil and gas sector then please click here for state eyeing hydrogen projects. Ana Angel, Latin
NewsBase’s EurOil Monitor. America manager at the Hinicio consultancy,
noted earlier this year that there was wide inter-
Russia’s cautious approach est in the region. “Latin America has pilot pro-
Russia is far less invested in decarbonisation jects in Costa Rica and Argentina [and] projects
than its European peers. However, as the con- in an advanced state of development in Chile and
tinent’s biggest energy supplier, it has watched Uruguay, as well as great interest from energy
developments in Europe with keen interest. and hydrocarbon companies in Colombia,” she
On the one hand, large-scale hydrogen pro- told Latin America Advisor.
duction and demand in Europe poses a threat Some of these pilot projects are being
to Russia, as the fuel will replace gas volumes. carried out by the Costa Rican Hydrogen
On the other hand, Russia may be able to use its Alliance, a group of private- and public-sec-
ample gas reserves and export pipelines to posi- tor companies representing every link in the
tion itself as a major supplier of blue hydrogen green hydrogen value chain. Jose Antonio
to Europe. Castro Nieto, chief scientist at Costa Rica’s
Russia’s energy ministry is currently pre- Ad Astra Rocket, said that the alliance saw the
paring a five-year hydrogen strategy that light- to heavy-duty transportation sector as a
could see incentives for hydrogen produc- good candidate for hydrogen-based decarbon-
tion projects introduced as early as next year. isation initiatives.
State companies Gazprom and Rosatom are “Compared to batteries, hydrogen is better
expected to take the lead in Russia’s hydrogen suited for the light- to heavy-duty transportation
drive. Gazprom wants to develop so-called sector, due to its much better energy-to-weight
turquoise hydrogen, generated from gas but ratio. In this sector, weight and volume are at a
using pyrolysis, where gas is passed through premium,” he told Latin America Advisor.
molten metal, producing solid carbon as a use-
ful by-product. If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping
This will require significant research and the Latin American oil and gas sector then please click
development by the company, as so far pyrolysis here for NewsBase’s LatAmOil Monitor.
is only used on a very small scale. Rosatom wants
to generate hydrogen from water using electroly- Saudi’s maiden blue ammonia shipment
sis, but powering the process with nuclear rather The world’s largest oil producer is pushing
than renewable energy. This is known as yellow hard to take a leadership position in the nas-
hydrogen. cent hydrogen sector. This week it shipped a

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