Posadas has helped Chilean clean energy group HIF Global win the rights to build a hydrogen and e-fuel production plant in Uruguay worth US$4 billion, the largest foreign investment in the South American country’s history.
Posadas advised HIF in all legal and tax aspects of the development, construction and financing of the project.
HIF won the bid to build the plant on 8 June. The bidding process was carried out by local bioethanol group Alcoholes del Uruguay (ALUR), a subsidiary of state-owned fuel company ANCAP.
The project will include an on-site electrolyser, a type of technology to produce low-emission hydrogen from renewable or nuclear electricity. HIF has also agreed to develop renewable energy plants (both wind and solar projects), transmission lines and other infrastructure at the site. Once complete, the facility will produce 180,000 tonnes of e-fuels annually, equivalent of decarbonising more than 150,000 vehicles per year.
Through the agreement, HIF will purchase 150,000 tonnes of biogenic carbon dioxide per year from ANCAP’s plant in the western department of Paysandú. E-fuels are made by synthesising carbon dioxide and hydrogen using renewable or green electricity.
The project will create 1,600 full-time employment opportunities during the construction phase and provide permanent full-time employment for 300 people once the plant is operational.
Construction on the project will begin in 2025 and operations will start two years later. In an official announcement, the Uruguayan minister of industry, energy and mining – Omar Paganini – explained that the generated green fuel will be exported.
HIF’s global president César Norton says that the project is “the first step towards starting operations in Uruguay and continue advancing in the fight against climate change.” He adds that the Paysandú project will be “the first carbon-neutral fuel plant in this country.”
Founded in 2016, HIF is backed by German automaker Porsche. Last year, it raised US$260 million in an equity investment to fund the global expansion of its decarbonisation business.
Posadas partner Victoria Garabato describes the investment as “a new milestone in the energy transition in Uruguay, which has always been at the forefront of renewable energy.” The banking and finance partner believes that Uruguay has “the opportunity to become a leader in the green hydrogen market, having excellent conditions for green hydrogen production.”
Counsel to HIF Global
Posadas
Partners Fernando de Posadas, Victoria Garabato and Diego Cuenca, and associate Federico Samudio.