Ecuador to begin drafting green hydrogen roadmap

Ecuador will soon join its neighbors in laying out a roadmap for the incorporation of green hydrogen into the energy matrix.

The IDB has issued a call for expressions of interest to develop a national strategy for the production and use of the alternative, clean fuel.

The winner will assess hydrogen’s cost competitiveness, evaluate demand and offtakers, propose a regulatory legal framework, identify pilot projects, determine export potential, and conduct stakeholder consultations, among other tasks.

Documents for the six-month contract are due by April 8, according to the procurement notice.

The work falls under IDB technical cooperation to promote decarbonization in Latin America and the Caribbean through green hydrogen.

The consultancy work will support Ecuador’s pledge to reduce greenhouse gas emissions between 20-25% by 2025.

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Recently, President Guillermo Lasso and foreign minister Juan Carlos Holguín met with Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister Adel bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir to discuss across-the-board cooperation, including the role of green hydrogen.

Gonzalo Uquillas, head of the country’s state power corporation Celec, told BNamericas previously that initial talks were underway to begin basic hydrogen studies.

Among earlier research, the Universidad San Francisco de Quito published a study in 2014 on opportunities and barriers for a hydrogen economy in Ecuador.

Neighboring Brazil, Colombia and Peru also have stepped up green hydrogen efforts: 

Spotlight: Brazil’s green hydrogen projects

Colombia launches first clean hydrogen projects

MINEM and H2 Peru sign an agreement to promote the development of green hydrogen in our country

Check out BNamericas Intelligence Series report Latin America's Big Chance in the Race for Hydrogen