The European Commissioner for Energy, Kadri Simson, visited Santiago de Chile on 1 and 2 July to further cooperation between the EU and Chile in the energy field.
As part of a thematic discussion on just transition and green hydrogen at the ‘Global Gateway Investment Agenda - Team Europe Initiative RH2 Development Chile’ event, the Commissioner said that the EU was open and ready to engage in renewable hydrogen trading, and that Chile would be a leading partner.
“We believe that Chile is already at the forefront of the energy transition. It can further position itself as a hub for renewable hydrogen, a forerunner on the international market and an exporter of renewable hydrogen to Europe”, she said.
As part of the ‘Global Gateway’ investment programme, the EU has made €216 million available for the development of green hydrogen production projects in the country. A second Team Europe initiative will allocate €8 million, to be implemented by the German and Spanish development agencies.
Ms Simson assured the Chilean Energy Minister, Diego Pardow Lorenzo, that the demand for renewable hydrogen was there, given that the EU has set itself a target of importing 10 million tonnes of green hydrogen by 2030, in addition to its domestic production target of 10 million tonnes.
“Our cooperation on energy and, in particular, on renewable hydrogen will be beneficial for Europe, because it will put an end to the last dependence on Russian fossil fuel imports, but also for Chile”, added Ms Simson, who emphasised the creation of jobs and green growth in the country.
Chile has also set itself a target of 100% clean energy by 2050.
The Chilean minister reaffirmed his country’s commitment to climate policies and the implementation of a genuine “State policy” for the development of green hydrogen.
Commissioner Simson will continue her trip to Latin America for the rest of the week with a visit to Argentina, in particular to co-chair the High-Level Dialogue on Energy between the EU and Argentina on Wednesday 3 July. (Original version in French by Pauline Denys)