
The governments of Uruguay and Argentina are trying to contain tensions surrounding the green hydrogen and synthetic fuels plant that HIF Global plans to build in the Uruguayan department of Paysandú, on the Uruguay river, after a statement by President Yamandú Orsi drew three consecutive denials from the Argentine side.

A federal court in the Argentine city of Concepción del Uruguay on Friday ordered a series of environmental studies and requested information from Uruguayan agencies after accepting a lawsuit against the Uruguayan state and multinational HIF Global over a green hydrogen plant project in Paysandú, in a new source of bilateral tension that echoes the Botnia pulp mill conflict of the early 2000s.

Uruguay's government is considering relocating within the department of Paysandú the synthetic fuels plant planned by multinational HIF Global, in an effort to simultaneously defuse diplomatic tensions with Argentina and advance what would be the largest private investment in the country's history, estimated at $5.385 billion in its final phase.

A delegation of Chilean and European authorities and institutions completed a technical visit to the Profesor Julio Escudero research station operated by the Chilean Antarctic Institute (INACH) on King George Island, where progress was presented on a pilot renewable hydrogen and energy infrastructure project designed to validate hybrid energy systems in one of the planet's most demanding environments.

Paraguay’s government has rolled out a pair of decrees offering preferential electricity pricing to energy-hungry industries—ranging from AI-linked data centers and cloud computing to green hydrogen and other “Power-to-X” projects—betting that the country’s hydroelectric surplus can be converted into investment and higher-value production. The move, however, has triggered pushback from energy experts and a fast-moving labor dispute inside the state utility ANDE.

The Government of Uruguay and the multinational firm HIF Global have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to develop a synthetic fuels project in the department (province) of Paysandú, representing a record-breaking investment of over US$5.3 billion.

The World Bank Group's International Finance Corporation (IFC), has announced its first global investment in green hydrogen, providing a U$20 million loan to the Kahirós project in Uruguay.

Uruguayan state-owned oil company Ancap, through Alcoholes del Uruguay (ALUR), signed an agreement with HIF Global to implement an ambitious green hydrogen and synthetic fuels project in Paysandú. The investment, estimated at US$6 billion, aims at producing 700,000 tons per year of renewable fuels, with a significant impact on the local and regional economy.

The Government of Uruguay Wednesday signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the company HIF for the building of a green hydrogen plant in the department (province) of Paysandú. The US$ 6 billion investment is expected to generate some 3,000 jobs.

Uruguayan President Luis Lacalle Pou Tuesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in Renewable Energies, Energy Efficiency, and Green Hydrogen with the European Union to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 and held one-on-one meetings with French President Emmanuel Macron and Italy's Prime Minister Georgia Meloni on the closing day of the EU-Celac summit in Brussels.