Chile open to multilateral financing for electromobility projects outside Santiago

Chile’s transport ministry (MTT) is open to receive financing from multilateral agencies for electromobility projects outside the capital, transport undersecretary Cristóbal Pineda said.

While the capital has the largest electric bus fleet in Latin America, and is set to grow even bigger, there are no electric bus services outside Santiago, although there are “electrocorridor” projects in the pipeline for the cities of Antofagasta and Valparaíso.

“Both are advancing according to schedule and we expect them to start operations in 2023,” Pineda told BNamericas after his address at the Latam Mobility Chile 2022 forum.

Regarding financing, he admitted that multilateral participation in Chile is not as intense as in other countries in the region but said the option is open. 

“What we’re aiming for is to have sustainable mobility, therefore financing sources will have to diversify in the future,” Pineda said. 

Cristián Lee Navas, senior transport specialist at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), told BNamericas at the same event that the bank is available to support Chile’s regional sustainable transport projects in general.

“We will be always available to have that conversation and to see in which areas we can help,” he said. 

He added that IDB is already working with the Chilean government to draft guidelines for green hydrogen in different areas, including transport. 

The government is open to using green hydrogen in its public transport systems, and also aims for Chile to become a net exporter of the fuel.