4.4 million tonnes per year renewable ammonia in Chile

TotalEnergies subsidiary Total Eren will lead development of the H2 Magallanes project (click to download press release) in southern Chile. Up to 10 GW of onshore wind capacity will power 8 GW of electrolysers, a desalination plant, an ammonia production plant and port facilities to export the product to local and global markets. At full capacity, 4.4 million tonnes of renewable ammonia will be produced every year. Take a virtual tour of the project location and proposed facilities via this video.

Although H2 Magallanes is still in the pre-feasability stage, it will be launched in 2025, with the aim to begin hydrogen electrolysis in 2027. The private-public partnership includes collaborations with the local University of Magallanes and the Chilean Ministry of Energy. Back in March, the Ministry of Energy released a study showing that the Magallanes region could produce up to 13% of the world’s green hydrogen thanks to near-unparalleled onshore wind resources.

Chile’s grand hydrogen vision

Chile’s National Green Hydrogen Strategy has three main objectives: to have 5 GW of electrolysis capacity under development by 2025, to produce the cheapest green hydrogen on the planet by 2030 and to be among the top three global exporters by 2040.

At the project announcement, Chilean Minister of Energy and Mining Juan Carlos Jobet explains where the H2 Magallanes project (and others in the region) fit into the national strategy:

“Magellan is far from the markets, but at the center of the solution against climate change and today it is consolidated as a green hydrogen development pole. We are seeing, through concrete actions, how our Strategy becomes a reality, and little by little, we will begin to see how the productive matrix of the region and of Chile as a whole is changing.

Magallanes, thanks to its winds and wind potential, already has 4 green hydrogen projects, which means investments of more than 15,000 million dollars, more than 10,000 MW in electrolysers, a capacity to generate electricity of more than 13,000 MW, and a production of more than one million tons of green hydrogen per year by 2027.”

Chilean Minister of Energy and Mining Juan Carlos Jobet at the project announcement in Magellan, 2 Dec 2021 (translated from Spanish)

AustriaEnergy & Ökowind

One of the other significant projects in Magallanes is AustriaEnergy & Ökowind’s HNH project. 1.6 GW of onshore wind will power electrolysis (capacity unspecified) and the production of 850,000 tonnes per year green ammonia. In May Trammo agreed to off-take the green product. The partners are aiming for HNH to be operational in 2026.