On this Friday 20^th October, the first Steering Committee of the Team Europe Renewable Hydrogen (RH2) Development Chile Project took place, with the exceptional participation of Wopke Hoekstra, who has recently been appointed as Commissioner for Climate Action of the European Union.

The Steering Committee is co-chaired by the Minister of Energy, Diego Pardow, and the Embassador of the European Union in Chile, León de la Torre Krais. The other participants in this meeting were the Officer for Partnerships in the field of energy and climate with Latin America of the Federal Ministry of Economy and Action for Climate (BMWK) of Germany, Georg Maue, the Executive Vice-President of CORFO, José Miguel Benavente, the Coordinator of the Energy Cluster of GIZ, M. Georger Cristodorescu, and the General Coordinator for the General Coordinator of the Spanish Cooperation for the Cono Sur (AECID), M. José Luis Pimentel.

The Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany, Irmgard Maria Fellner, and the Ambassador of Spain, Rafael Garranzo García, also participated in the meeting.

This first Steering Committee has been the opportunity to present the first main progresses and the next activities of the project. It is worth recalling that the Team Europe Rh2 Development Project was first presented by the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, during her visit in Chile in June of this same year.

Commissioner Hoekstra mentioned that “For the EU, Chile is a unique partner in the field of climate. We are aware of the fact that a significant amount of public and private investments are required to achieve our climate objectives. The Team Europe Initiative for the Development of Renewable Hydrogen in Chile is an excellent example of the type of concrete cooperation required by this challenge. The project contributes to the strengthening of the normative, technical and political conditions that are necessary for the development of this industry. We hope that it will leverage thousands of millions of euros of green investments in Chile”.

“The first steering committee meeting for Team Europe Renewable Hydrogen in Chile was a very good opportunity to already notice the significant progress we as GIZ implementing agency, on behalf of BMWK and the EU DEL, have made in the past months, highlighting the coordinated works with our counterparts CORFO and the Ministry of Energy in the months to come. It is a unique project of it is kind with a unique DNA that covers all necessary thematic areas of action for creating the enabling environment for the development of green H2 and derivates giving at the same time, a very good platform so investors and the financing institutions getting a more trustworthy environment” mentioned George Cristodorescu, Chile and LAC Energy Cluster Coordinator, GIZ.

Meanwhile, the General Coordinator of the Spanish Cooperation for the Southern Cone, Jose Luis Pimentel, stressed the importance of supporting capacity building to generate technical and professional human capital needed in projects for the production of RH2 and enabling infrastructure and the science, innovation and development system, as well as the exchange of knowledge between partners in the region. He stressed the importance of the Team Europe approach, with the participation of all stakeholders involved in this initiative, as an ideal platform to "work better together" for the development of this industry.

The Project is financed by the Federal Ministry of Economy and Protection of Climate of Germany (BMWK) and by the European Union, through the Euroclima program, and is implemented by the German Cooperation Agency GIZ and the Spanish Cooperation Agency AECID. Its objective is to strengthen and stimulate the economy of the renewable and sustainable hydrogen, thus contributing to reaching the objective of climate neutrality by 2050 of both the EU and Chile. To this end, work will be carried in the following areas: A) Strengthening of a favourable environment; B) Creation of capacities and transfer of knowledge; C) Technical development; D) Infrastructures and Assessments of the sustainable impact; E) Development of projects, Business cooperation and Financing.

In each of these areas, the Project considers as relevant initiatives such as the provision of support for the design of a certification system of clean hydrogen; the use of Copernicus for the identification of the most sensible ecosystems for the development of projects; the strengthening of the regulatory framework; the provision of support for the financial structuration and the licensing of projects and the conduct of relevant studies regarding the needs in infrastructure; these being only few examples. 

The Executive Vice-President of CORFO, José Miguel Benavente, emphasized the fact that “[they] value the work that has been done with the European Union, Germany and its Cooperation Agency GIZ, and the Spanish Cooperation Agency, AECID, in terms of cooperation to bridge the gaps, which allowed [them] to accelerate the investments in the Green Hydrogen industry in Chile.

Finally, the Minister of Energy, Diego Pardow, noted that "International cooperation is key to boosting the green hydrogen industry in Chile. Initiatives such as the Team Europe project will help us to implement the 2023-2030 Action Plan and close the gaps we have identified in terms of sustainability, infrastructure, local development, social and environmental impacts. Together with our European partners, we look with optimism to the decarbonization potential that this nascent industry has for Chile and the world, as well as the associated economic development that will help drive the creation of new jobs."