MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

US$ 4 bn investment on green hydrogen launched in Uruguay

Uruguay is at the forefront of countries in this type of production, Stipanicic said

Uruguayan President Luis Lacalle Pou Thursday announced that US$ 2 billion will be invested in the construction of a green hydrogen plant in Paysandú. The work to begin this year will employ between 1,500 and 3,200 jobs and the plant itself will offer some 300 permanent jobs. Another US$ 2 billion will be invested in renewable energy projects.

“Here in Uruguay and here in Paysandú we are going to benefit from this investment, during construction there will be more than 3,200 workers at peak, 1,500 permanent workers, and when it is finished, 300 permanent workers,” Lacalle said.

“In this energy transformation that the world is undergoing, Uruguay has done its homework,” said the president.

Lacalle said that other works will also be carried out in Paysandú. Among them, is an effluent treatment plant soon to be completed.

The head of state also mentioned the construction of a hotel with an investment of around US$ 25 million about to be finished.

Industry Minister Omar Paganini that the proposal is part of a process that will involve a plant to be installed by Alcoholes del Uruguay (ALUR) in association with Ancap to produce green hydrogen and with this element to produce synthetic gasoline, which does not require the use of oil. He said that this plant will involve some US$2 billion of investment, but also for renewable energy, it will be another US$2 billion.

“This is renewable energy that is transformed into hydrogen, which is combined with carbon dioxide that comes out of ALUR, and with that, these new fuels are made, which replace exactly the current gasoline,” he said.

Ancap's president, Alejandro Stipanicic, said that “it is a plant that will produce around 250,000 cubic meters per year of electrogasoline, synthetic gasoline, all of Uruguay consumes around 850,000 cubic meters of Super gasoline, it is the first project in the country that will be dedicated to the production of an electrofuel...” which “puts Uruguay at the forefront of countries in this type of production.”

The project requires an investment of almost US$2 billion in carbon dioxide capture, methanol production, and synthetic gasoline termination, and an additional US$2 billion in infrastructure installation. The idea is to export the gasoline and it is not ruled out that there will be vehicles in Uruguay that can use this type of ecological fuel.

According to Stipanicic, the plant will be located seven kilometers north of the departmental capital and the works will last 30 months.