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30 min ago 2 min read
Chile’s economic development agency Corfo is shifting its green hydrogen strategy to prioritise domestic demand and job creation over export-led growth, citing slow development of global hydrogen markets.
The agency said future support will focus on industrial hydrogen use, local supply chains and employment, replacing an earlier emphasis on positioning Chile as a major exporter of green hydrogen and its derivatives.
“The current global market trend points to incentivising smaller-scale renewable hydrogen projects, geared towards local consumption and production, with secured offtakers and contracts,” Fernando Hentzchel, Corfo’s Technological Capabilities Manager, said.
Corfo did not identify which sectors it would look to prioritise green hydrogen uptake in.
Hentzchel pointed to the International Energy Agency’s recent downward revision of projected clean hydrogen production by 2030 as evidence of changing market conditions.
As part of the overhaul, Corfo will end funding for the government-backed Magallanes Green Hydrogen Technology Centre (NEMa) on 31 December 2026, less than two years after it opened. Corfo said NEMa’s “knowledge assets” will “remain available” to the industry.
Chile has sought to leverage its abundant wind and solar resources to become a leading exporter of green hydrogen, ammonia and e-fuels.
The latest shift builds Chile’s national hydrogen strategy under the previous government, which moved away from a 25GW production target towards building domestic demand by 2030 before scaling exports.
