German developer, Argentina partner for large-scale green hydrogen, SAF project

German sustainability consultant and business developer GreenSinnergy GMBH has partnered with Argentine renewable energy experts for a proposed decarbonization project in southern Argentina’s southern province of Chubut that, if completed, would use regional wind energy resources to generate green hydrogen for production of up to 500,000 tonnes/year (tpy) of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). 

Known as ECO-Refinerías del Sur and planned for development in three phases, the project will use a power-to-liquid (PTL) production pathway and the Fischer-Tropsch technology process in which green hydrogen derived from wind energy would be combined with captured carbon dioxide (CO2) to produce SAF, GreenSinnergy said in a series of Dec. 10 posts to official company social media accounts.

Planned for construction in Argentina’s province of Chubut, "home to one of the world's most attractive wind resources," GreenSinnergy said in a Dec. 6 presentation to Senado de la Nación Argentina that the project is nearing its final stages of preliminary development as the company works to build out an extensive network of stakeholders consisting of "technologists, [customers], and strategic investors, among others."

Targeted for an initial SAF production capacity of 100,000 tpy, the project’s first phase—estimated to require an investment of $2.5 billion— will be supported mainly by wind power generation, helping to reduce CO2 emissions by about 500,000 tpy, GreenSinnergy said.

Anticipated at an overall investment that could exceed $6 billion to reach the project’s maximum SAF production capacity of 500,000 tpy, ECO-Refinerías del Sur could ultimately achieve a CO2-reduction rate of about 1.5 million tpy in support of broader global efforts to decarbonize the aviation sector and attain carbon neutrality by 2050.

GreenSinnergy said it expects basic and detailed engineering phases for ECO-Refinerías del Sur to advance in the coming years, with Phase 1 of the proposed project currently planned for startup in 2030.

“We are looking forward to implementing the large-scale green hydrogen project together with [Argentine] local partners,” Dr. Bertram Lohmüller, GreenSinnergy’s managing director said on Dec. 10, stressing that developing a sustainable ecosystem and capacity building via professional and academic training of the regional workforce comprise “key elements of [the] large-scale green industrialization project.”

While details regarding updated official wind power capacity in Chubut have yet to be made available, the latest data from the department of energy transition and planning of Argentina Ministry of Economy showed wind energy accounted for 2% of the country’s overall energy balance in 2023.

Chubut, which leads Argentina’s wind generation, is followed by the provinces of Buenos Aires and Santa Cruz, respectively, with more than 900 wind turbines installed across the country’s 36 wind farms, according to a recent release from the national Ministry of Defense.

Provincial energy transition plans

The early December unveiling of the planned development follows Chubut provincial Gov. Ignacio Torres’ Dec. 4 signing of an agreement with nonprofit Asociación Civil Transición Energética Sostenible (TES; Sustainable Energy Transition Civil Association) aimed at strengthening joint work in the development of a green hydrogen strategic plan for the province as part of a strategy to showcase Chubut as a key location for new energy-related investments, the provincial government said in a release.

As part of the agreement, TES will provide advice and develop a proposal for the creation of a comprehensive energy transition strategy for Chubut, including preparation of a detailed roadmap that integrates development of green hydrogen, its production processes, and those of its derivatives as a key driver for the sustainable growth of the province and Argentine Patagonia as a whole.

Torres added that "one of the objectives of [the] administration is to have a medium and long-term strategy for the comprehensive development of the energy transition, [including] essential factors such as support for sustainable forms of production, the rational use of energy, and the hydrogen economy based on the production of hydrogen and its derivatives within the province," he said. 

Continuing, Torres said "the natural characteristics of our province and the professionalization of the human resources we have make up a distinctive asset that predisposes us to enter this new activity, not to mention that Chubut currently has the advantage of having the best wind resource globally, with the highest wind yields."

Chubut will carry out its provincial hydrogen strategy in tandem with fellow Patagonian provinces and the national government, the governor said.

Ana Clara Romero, Chubut’s national deputy to Argentina’s President Enrique Casares, emphasized the province’s agreement with TES—alongside creation of the intersectional hydrogen work group—served as "a concrete gesture to attract investments, and to show the world not only that [the region has] the best conditions to develop the green hydrogen industry and its derivatives, but also that there is a strong political will on the part of [Gov. Torres] to support and accompany this path."