[Herald Interview] Korea, Chile eye two-way benefits in green energy

With a renewed push toward a leading green energy supplier with its vast energy resources, Chilean government officials urged South Korea, which shares similar goals in reducing dependence on fossil fuels, to expand investments to Chile and boost strategic partnerships.

“The challenge today for Chile is to increase the participation of Korean companies in the Chilean economy and the flows of Korean capital into Chile,” Chilean Ambassador Mathias Francke told The Korea Herald at the Embassy of Chile in central Seoul on Friday.

“The foreign direct investment volume (from Korea to Chile) stands at between 200 and $800 million in total and that’s very low compared to other countries in this region like China or Japan – a very notable difference.”

The green energy sector, ranging from hydrogen to renewable energy including solar energy and wind power, is a key area where Chile is seeking to promote Korean investments, according to Francke.

The two countries particularly have a mutual interest in hydrogen business since 2021 when they signed a memorandum of understanding to expand cooperation in the low-carbon sector, said Maria Helena Lee Marasca, head of the international affairs office at the Energy Ministry. Marasca was visiting Seoul this week with other executives from the ministry for the second meeting under the MOU.

“We presented our ‘green hydrogen action plan’ (to Korea’s Industry Ministry). The Korean government also shared their regulatory framework and the hydrogen tender they’ve launched this year,” said Marasca. “We hope Chile could participate in the tender offer so that Korea could import green hydrogen from Chile.”

In May, South Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy opened a tender to create a market that can sell electricity generated by green hydrogen to the public in a move to expand the clean energy sector to up to 138 terawatt-hours of annual energy supply by 2030. Green hydrogen is produced by splitting water using electricity generated by renewable energy.

As part of the action plan, Chile will operate a green hydrogen production base in the Magallanes region to inject the gas into the state-owned oil and gas company ENAP’s new industrial complex, according to Alex Santander, director for strategic planning and sustainable development at the Energy Ministry of Chile.

Encouraging Korean energy companies to engage in Chile’s green hydrogen business, Francke said, “We’ve spoken with SK Ecoplant (on a possible partnership) but they seemed to be more focused on building capacity to produce blue hydrogen in Korea.”

In addition to hydrogen production, Chile looks to join hands with Korea in hydrogen-powered vehicles. In April last year, Hyundai Motor Group had talks with the Chilean government to supply hydrogen fuel cell taxis at local airports and trucks near mining sites.

As for renewable energy, Santander noted Chile witnessed remarkable growth this year. 61 percent of electricity is generated by renewable energy and 31 percent of it consists of solar radiation and wind power. In 2010, the renewable energy ratio was 38 percent and only 1 percent came from solar and wind energy.

The solar energy sector is seeing active involvement from small and mid-sized Korean companies including the state-run Korea Energy, which operates 10 solar power plants in the country.

As of this year, seven major Korean companies including Hyundai Motor Group, Hyundai Engineering & Construction, Daewoo Electronics, Hanwha Q Cells and Korea Resources Corp. operate business in Chile.