With estimates of at least 10,000 jobs and an investment of close to US$16 billion, the initiative will be developed by TotalEnergies H2, a subsidiary of TotalEnergies, in the commune of San Gregorio, Magallanes and Chilean Antarctica Region. It contemplates the production of green ammonia that will operate with nitrogen captured from the air and green hydrogen produced through wind energy and desalinated and demineralized seawater, whose product will be exported by sea from Magallanes to different parts of the world.

The project will take place in the 72,000 hectare Cañadón Grande ranch, of which approximately 4,000 hectares will be used for key infrastructure such as wind turbines, electrolysis plants, ammonia production and storage units, electrical infrastructure and a port terminal that will include a desalination plant.

According to information provided in the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), “the project contemplates the construction and operation of an ammonia production plant, which will use nitrogen obtained from atmospheric air and hydrogen generated by electrolysis with wind-generated electricity and desalinated and demineralized seawater. The ammonia will be exported through a maritime terminal, thus completing the green hydrogen value chain”.

The EIA also indicates that the initiative will be developed in two stages: the first aims to build an ammonia production plant, which will use hydrogen generated by wind energy and desalinated and demineralized seawater, including maritime infrastructure for import during construction and export during operation; The second, meanwhile, seeks to complement the production of the final hydrogen and green ammonia product of Stage 1 and contemplates the construction of a new wind farm of up to 5 GW of capacity, together with the expansion of the Ammonia Plant and Desalination Plant 2 in the areas of future expansion of Stage 1.

Read more at Bio Bio Chile.