Chile Kicks Off Large-Scale Production of e-Fuels

Taking advantage of the renewable energy from the wind, green hydrogen is produced through a process called electrolysis.

The facility also captures CO2 from the atmosphere and applies a synthesis process to combine CO2 and hydrogen to produce eFuels, including Carbon Neutral Gasoline (eGasoline) and Carbon Neutral Liquefied Gas (eLG).

It should be noted that the e-gasoline produced at this plant can be used in any vehicle that runs on common gasoline without the need to make any adaptations.

 

December, 2022.-

The first liters of synthetic gasoline were pumped into the
tank of a Porsche,  one of the partner companies of the project

Haru Oni Plant, a HIF Global (Highly Innovative Fuels) project involving major companies such as Porsche, Enel Green Power, Enap, Siemens Energy, Gasco and Exxon Mobile, marked a milestone by producing the first liters of eFuel. Siemens Energy was the project technologist, participated in the engineering and construction, and provided the electrolysis technology. 

Haru Oni, located 44 km north of Punta Arenas, Chile, produced its first liters of synthetic fuel at the end of December. The site was chosen because of the amount of wind energy that can be used to produce green hydrogen. This is approximately 6,000 hours per year at full load, or 270 days, which is three times the production capacity in Europe. 

"The first synthetic fuels at Haru Oni are a milestone in the fight against climate change, not only for Chile, but for the whole world," said Cesar Norton, President and CEO of HIF Global, during the inauguration. "This is everyone's problem, which is why Haru Oni brings together the experience of German, Italian, American, Chinese and Chilean companies in the search for a better future."

Prospects

The initial phase of the project (pilot plant) will produce a total of 130,000 liters per year in 2023, with the aim of increasing production to 55 million liters in 2025 and 550 million liters in 2027. Porsche will be the first buyer of the biofuel produced at the Chilean plant. 

"Let's just consider that there are more than 1 billion combustion engine cars on the planet today, and they have a long life ahead of them. If we want to achieve climate protection goals, we need a solution for this highly polluting fleet," said Javier Pastorino, Managing Director of Siemens Energy for Argentina, Chile and Uruguay. 

The same is true for other transportation sectors, such as aviation and shipping, which will require synthetic fuels to decarbonize because they are difficult to electrify. South America is becoming a hub for green hydrogen projects thanks to its renewable wind and solar resources. "The macro and microeconomic conditions needed to make them viable are as important as the clarity and stability of the game rules."

On the other hand, Anne-Laure de Chammard, member of the Global Executive Board of Siemens Energy, said: "The goal of the Haru Oni project is to demonstrate that e-fuels can be commercialized in large quantities and at competitive prices." 

In addition to representatives of all the companies involved in the project, the event was attended by the Minister of Transport of the State of Baden-Württemberg (Germany), Wienfred Hermann; the Chilean Minister of Energy, Diego Pardow; the Minister of Economy, Nicolas Grau; the Minister of Public Works, Juan Carlos Garcia; the Minister of Science, Technology, Knowledge and Innovation, Silvia Diaz; the Mayor of Punta Arenas, Claudio Radonich; the Regional Governor, Jorge Flies; and the Executive Vice President of CORFO, Jose Miguel Benavente.