Engie obtains environmental approval for green hydrogen industrial pilot plant in Chile.
All the green hydrogen generated will be delivered to Enaex for the production of ammonia, a fundamental element for blasting in mining.
Engie obtained a favorable Environmental Qualification Resolution (RCA) from the Environmental Assessment Service (SEA) for its HyEx project , a green hydrogen industrial pilot in the Tocopilla commune, Antofagasta Region.
The project considers the production of green hydrogen (26MW) based on a water electrolysis system powered by renewable energy, whose operation would begin in 2025, reported the local subsidiary of the French electricity company.
All the green hydrogen it generates will be delivered to Enaex for the production of ammonia , a fundamental element for the blasting process in mining and which will be used at its Prillex de Mejillones plant, in order to reduce the import of ammonia manufactured from fossil fuels.
This would allow Enaex to reduce the carbon footprint of its production processes by approximately 30,000 tons of CO2 per year, which is approximately equivalent to stopping 11 high-tonnage CAEX mining trucks from consuming diesel. Thanks for staying up to date with Hydrogen Central.
Next steps
In the long term, once the pilot has been successfully executed, a large-scale project will also be evaluated in Antofagasta with a capacity of up to 2,000 MW of electrolysis , from which Enaex would increase its production of green ammonia, with an estimated date for 2030. .
Axel Leveque, CEO of Engie Chili, said:
Obtaining this RCA is a great milestone in the execution of this project, since it will be an important signal for the development of the enormous potential that northern Chile has for the production of Green Hydrogen.
In addition to the environmental benefits, the development will have an impact on the generation of local employment and the productive chain.
Engie obtains environmental approval for green hydrogen industrial pilot, April 28, 2022
