A delegation led by Uruguay’s energy and mining minister has visited Enertrag’s Uckermark renewable energy plant and integrated electrolyser in Germany.
During the tour, the delegation, which included various Uruguayan government representatives, discussed renewables and the potential for the production and export of green hydrogen and its derivatives.
In Uruguay, electricity demand is almost entirely supplied by renewable sources, mainly hydropower and wind and the more recent expansion of solar.
The country is a net exporter of electricity and expects further surpluses in electricity production of two terawatt-hour annually in future.
Recently, energy minister Omar Paganini announced Uruguay is developing its own hydrogen strategy which includes ambitions to produce and export green hydrogen.
In addition to a large wind and solar base, with good complementarity, Uruguay has the infrastructure and logistics in place for shipping hydrogen and its derivatives to Europe.
The development of a domestic hydrogen economy is also a medium- to long-term possibility.
In the tour of the 600MW Uckermark interconnected renewable power plant, the delegation learned about how the plant both produces electricity and commercial volumes of green hydrogen.
The H2Global foundation, of which Enertrag is a founding member, and the resulting opportunities were also an important topic of discussion, the company said.
The aim of H2Global is to create an efficient funding programme for a fast market ramp-up and import of green-hydrogen-based products to Germany.
Aram Sander, Enertrag’s head of international business, said: “Our many years of experience in the production of green hydrogen in Germany, and the development of large-scale, export-oriented projects globally is something we would like to bring to Uruguay.
“Uruguay is an ideal partner for Germany with its high-quality renewables resources, space, abundant water and excellent, stable political frameworks. These unique factors combined make Uruguay an attractive region for long-term infrastructure investments at low financing costs.”