The minister of Industry, Energy and Mining (MIEM), Omar Paganinireferred to the historical investment that the group will make Global HIF in paysandu to produce synthetic gasoline from green hydrogen in Uruguay, and pointed out that it is very unlikely that the State will participate in the project as a financier as long as it is not willing to assume the commercial risk.
In recent days, the project that HIF Global will carry out in the country and that will require an investment of 4 billion dollars It has been one of the most commented topics: having become the largest investment in the country’s history, the project aims to build a plant that will produce some 180,000 tons of synthetic gasoline per year in Paysandú.
Asked if the holding company made up of Chilean and US capital will be in charge of all the investment necessary to develop this new green hydrogen industry initiativePaganini replied that the business group is, for the moment, the only investor. “The State has the option to participate, if it wishes and if the conditions are met, up to 30%”, explained the minister in dialogue with Radio Carve.
However, he quickly dismissed this possibility. “This is a business destined for the global market, to export this gasoline, because these renewable fuels are very interesting, it is a fast path towards the elimination of fossil fuels, but they are still expensive, much more expensive to produce with the costs that the technology currently has,” said the head of the MIEM.
“An international company is needed willing to absorb the commercial risk, to gradually develop this market in the countries of destination, and the Uruguayan State is not going to do that. The Uruguayan State does not want to take risks, which is why this is going to be an eminently private project,” said Paganini from USA, where he is promoting the country as an investment destination among different businessmen and investors.
What is behind HIF Global?
HIF Global dethroned the Finnish UPM and became the company that will make the largest investment in the history of Uruguay, by contributing the 4,000 million dollars necessary for the construction of the green hydrogen and renewable energy plant in Paysandú.
The company, leader in the green hydrogen sector, has its origins in Chili and was founded in 2016 by Cesar Norton Sacre, civil electrical engineer graduated from the Federico Santa Maria University of that country, who today serves as president. From then until today, he has been accompanied by three people whom he considers pillars, according to the Ex-Ante consultant, such as the general manager, Clara Bowman; the Vice President of Strategic Development, Juan José Gana; and the director of Innovation, Rolf Schumacher.
In those years, it not only became strong in the Latin American country, but also It has a presence in the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. In fact, from the Ancap Group they had specified that the company has “extensive experience acquired” and highlighted its Matagorda project in Texas, USA; in Burnie’s, Tasmania, in Australia; and in Chile, with the Haru Oni Project and its successive commercial stages.
According to data from the consultant, Andes Mining Energy (AME) controls 80% of HIF Global, while the rest is shared Porsche (12%), the fund manager EIG, Baker Hughes and Gemstone Investments. The objective of the firm that will land in Uruguay is “to provide Highly Innovative Fuels to make the decarbonization of the planet possible.”
HIF Global aims to become the largest producer of eFuels in the world, “producing 140,000 barrels of eFuels per day by 2030, capturing more than 25 million tons of CO2 and turning 5 million vehicles carbon neutral,” according to its official website.
Source: Ambito
