Alcohols of Uruguay (ALUR)one of Ancap’s collaterals, intends to venture into a new business unit that opens the doors to a million-dollar investment for the country. The subsidiary of Grupo Ancap launched this Monday an invitation to express interest for the development of a project for the capture of biogenic carbon combined with green hydrogen in its Paysandú agro-industrial complex for the production of eFuel (methanol, synthetic fuels or sustainable aviation fuel —SAF—)
The conditions of the specifications will be defined in mid-December and the private developer is expected to be defined next March. Official sources commented to The Observer that the investment in this initiative can be around US$ 1,000 million. The amount will actually be known once the degree of progress given to the project is known, since sustainable aviation fuel (SAF – Sustainable Aviation Fuel) could also be produced.
To move forward with this process, ALUR and Ancap defined three weeks ago the hiring of the consultant with expertise in the Hinicio issue, which had already worked with the government on a project for the transport of cargo with green hydrogen.
Once the terms of reference of the call are defined and the private companies have met the reputational and track record requirements, those developers must present a “conceptual project” that has to incorporate the biogenic carbon capture of ALUR in Paysandú combined with green hydrogen. . “Those who will present themselves will define how far they go with the added value of the venture,” the sources explained.
ALUR’s boiler in Paysandú offers a biogenic carbon production of 12%, while the emission from the grain fermentation plant reaches 98%. In that department, the company has a plant that has a capacity of 70 million liters of bioethanol, which requires 200,000 tons of grains from about 50,000 hectares. It can also produce 70 thousand tons of animal feed.
The participation of ALUR or Grupo Ancap as a minority partner of the private initiative will remain open and will be decided once the final business is completed with the value of the assets contributed, the logistics, and the financial structure of the project. The oil entity offers its infrastructure for the storage and export of production by river.
Ancap’s commitment to green hydrogen
Around the end of last year, Ancap presented the H2U Offshore program, whose objective is the production of green hydrogen for export from wind farms installed in the sea. In this way, the public company seeks to promote a long-term program to attract private investment from large international companies through different incentives, and without risk to the State.
Ancap aspires to be the commercial agent of the State for offshore hydrogen production and generate promotion and incentive to attract global energy companies and encourage them to invest in the country.
The contract model that will be proposed in international calls It will include different stages of research and analysis for energy companies to carry out feasibility studies and potential installation of infrastructure for green hydrogen production.
Green hydrogen is produced by electrolysis of water from electricity from renewable sources and can be transformed into various forms of energy with multiple applications for industry or mobility. The process is clean and has no CO2 emissions. One of its great potentials is that it is storable energy that can be compressed and transported from one place to another.
