The largest plant that produces synthetic gasoline based on green hydrogen in Latin America, it will start its production on a commercial scale in Chilean Patagonia in March 2023, with plans to export this clean fuel made in Chile in the future.
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This is the Haru Oni pilot project for the synthetic fuel production hydrogen-based from the company Highly Innovative Fuels (HIF), which began construction in 2021.
At the end of 2022, the production of the first liters of green hydrogen-based synthetic gasoline was completed, a first step to replace fuels from fossil sources.
“It’s a game changer for the transportation industry.“, Clara Bowman, general manager of HIF Global, an international collaborative program for the development of alternative fuels, said in an interview with Xinhua.
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Bowman explained that this innovative product can displace conventional gasolinederived from oil, coal or natural gas, without the need to transform the engines of the vehicles in circulation, as well as the logistics of storage and distribution.
“This fuel is a 93 octane gasoline. It is chemically identical to conventional gasoline, but free of impurities. Its added value is to be a contribution to decarbonizationsince it reduces particulate matter emissions by 90 percent,” he added.
According to the company, Haru Oni is a smaller demonstration plant with the capacity to produce 350 tons of crude methanol and 130,000 liters of green gasoline per year, for which it uses wind energy and carbon dioxide (CO2) extracted from the atmosphere. .
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This level of production could supply approximately one million cars per year and thus support the energy transition.
“Being a demonstration plant, the only one of its kind in the world, will allow us to learn from a productive process that had only occurred at the laboratory level.“, commented Bowman, who hopes that Haru Oni can turn that area into a “hub” (center) of innovation and serve as a guide for other similar projects.
For the company Siemens Energy, a firm that is also promoting the project, the plan is to increase the production of neutral fuel to the environment to 55 million liters per year in 2024 and more than 550 million in 2026.
The project is located in the city of Punta Arenas, in the Chilean region of Magallanes, some 3,000 kilometers south of Santiago.
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Haru Oni also has enormous potential for energy development that can contribute to the fight against global warming on the planet.
The extensive and unpopulated region of some 170,000 inhabitants, located in the southernmost part of the South American country, has the ideal conditions to install wind turbines and use winds of up to 100 kilometers per hour to generate a commercial and sustainable product, both for local use and exportable.
The Haru Oni project considers an investment of 74 million dollars and is located on an area of 3.7 hectares within the Tehuel Aike property, with a structure 148.5 meters high and an estimated useful life of 25 years.
For the elaboration of “eFuels” or carbon neutral fuels, it has a wind turbine of 3.4 megawatts (MW), which provides energy to the electrolysis process or separation of the elements, in addition to a backup transmission line of 13 kilowatts (kW).
Chile seeks to lead the global production of green hydrogen by 2050, a gas that would contribute between 17 and 27 percent of the reductions necessary to achieve carbon neutrality in the country in 30 years, as well as accumulated savings of 15,200 million Dollars.
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The Magallanes region and Chilean Antarctica could produce 13 percent of the world’s green hydrogenwhile the annual electric-wind generation could exceed the national matrix by seven times, according to a study by the Chilean Ministry of Energy.
These figures have captivated foreign investors, which is why projects related to green hydrogen have multiplied, which augurs new companies and services to accommodate greater demand in Magallanes.
For the inhabitants of the Chilean region, this boost would translate into strong economic development in its rugged territory, especially in the field of hydrocarbons, livestock, fishing and tourism.
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