Latin America's top 8 green hydrogen projects

There are currently 58 green hydrogen projects in BNamericas' database, eight of which have capital expenditure equal to or greater than US$5bn. 

Brazil has four of these mega-developments, including three in the northeastern state of Ceará, which is reaping the benefits of tax breaks and special access to financing for investors.

Chile is the next-best represented country in the region with two projects, followed by Argentina and Panama with one each. Here is a snapshot of the projects:

1. H2 Magallanes

Capex: US$15bn

Capacity: 800,000t/y

Stage: Feasibility

Owner: TotalEnergies Chile

Location: Magallanes, Chile

H2 Magallanes envisages large-scale electrolysis powered by renewable electricity from a 10,000MW wind complex. The resultant green hydrogen will be used to produce green ammonia.

2. Green Energy Park 

Capex: US$10.5bn

Capacity: N/A

Stage: Early design and engineering

Owner: Green Energy Park

Location: Piaui, Brazil

The project involves the construction of a green hydrogen and ammonia production plant. It will be installed in the Parnaíba Export Zone (ZPE), on the coast of the state of Piauí. The plant will utilize facilities at the Luís Correia port to export hydrogen.

3. Pampas project

Capex: US$8.4bn

Capacity: 2.2Mt/y

Stage: Pre-feasibility

Owner: Fortescue Future Industries

Location: Rio Negro, Argentina

The Pampas project consists of the construction of a green hydrogen production facility, to be powered by a 2GW onshore wind farm and a 500MW solar park. 

4. Gente Grande 

Capex: US$8bn

Capacity: 1.5Mt/y

Stage: Early design and engineering

Owner: TEG Chile, Haura Energy

Location: Magallanes, Chile

The Gente Grande project envisages the production of green hydrogen through 300 wind turbines with special characteristics due to the wind conditions in Tierra del Fuego. The project includes the construction of a wind farm, a desalination plant, a green hydrogen and ammonia production plant, and port facilities that allow the export of this energy source.

5. Golden City Biorefinery

Capex: US$7.7bn

Capacity: 405,000t/y

Stage: Early design and engineering

Owner: SGP BioEnergy, the Republic of Panama, Panama Oil Terminals

Location: Panama

The initiative consists of the development of a biofuel and green hydrogen production hub that utilizes existing port terminals on the Pacific and Atlantic coasts. It will produce up to 405,000t/y of clean hydrogen from carbon waste. 

6. Ceará Green Hydrogen Hub

Capex: US$6.95bn

Capacity: 1.3Mt/y

Stage: Feasibility

Owner: Ceará state government

Location: Ceará, Brazil

The initiative entails the construction of a green hydrogen and offshore wind complex. The project will create over 2,000 jobs in the construction phase and 600 for the running of sustainable energy production. 

7. Base One

Capex: US$5.4bn

Capacity: 600,000t/y

Stage: Feasibility

Owner: Ceará state government

Operator: Enegix Energy

Location: Ceará, Brazil

Base One calls for a green hydrogen production plant to be built in Ceará, at the port of Pecém. The facility will produce more than 600Mkg of green hydrogen annually from 3.4GW of baseload renewable energy.

8. Fortescue Green Hydrogen Plant

Capex: US$5bn

Capacity: 305,505t/y

Stage: Environmental and social evaluation

Owner: Brasil Fortescue Sustainable Industries

Location: Ceará, Brazil

The project consists of the construction of a green hydrogen plant in the industrial complex that will be located in the municipality of Caucaia, within the Export Processing Zone (ZPE II), about 9km from the port of Pecém. The initiative will be developed in three phases: the first and second are expected to enable electrolysis capacity of 1,200MW, while the third would add 900MW.