Colombia advances hydrogen economy bill

Colombian lawmakers approved in the committee stage a bill that aims to kickstart investment in the fledgling clean hydrogen industry.

The so-called hydrogen economy bill seeks to establish incentives across the sector's entire value chain, including derived products such as fertilizer feedstock.

"An important opportunity has opened up for the country to move towards the energy transition and position itself as a great supplier of hydrogen worldwide," said Conservative party member Nicolás Barguil after a lower house committee concluded the bill's first debate.

The proposed legislation has received support from the Colombian hydrogen association, natural gas industry group Naturgas, business association Andi and renewable energy guild Ser Colombia, among other groups, he added.

The mines and energy ministry unveiled its long-term blueprint for clean hydrogen in 2021, outlining plans for up to 3GW of electrolysis capacity by 2030 and envisaging wide-scale adoption of fuel-cell vehicles.

In addition to citing the vast potential for green hydrogen production from renewables – via water electrolysis – the roadmap sets a target of 50,000t of blue hydrogen capacity derived from natural gas over the same period. 

Investments in the segment are seen ranging from US$2.5bn to US$5.5bn, while 10,000-15,000 jobs are expected to be created.