LAC Region

Working together for a LAC Region with opportunities

Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) region has an annual total Hydrogen consumption of approximately 4.1 million tons (MTon), which represents 5% of the global production market (IEA, 2020). Regarding the trade balance, the LAC Region depends heavily on Hydrogen imports to satisfy its domestic demand, which shown a value of US$ 4.6 million (2.6% of the total value of world imports) at the end of 2021; however, exports were much lower, being of the order of US$ 0.13 million (0.1% of the total value of world exports). Grey Hydrogen, is mostly produced from oil refining through the steam methane reforming process (SMR), and a small portion of Blue Hydrogen applied carbon capture and sequestration (CSS) technology. Green Hydrogen is produced in small quantities in countries such as Argentina (120 Nm3/h; Planta H2 Hychico), Costa Rica (0.8 Ton/year; Ad Astra Rocket), Chile (10 Ton/year; Cerro Pabellón) and Peru (Industrias Cachimayo), however, according to forecast analysis of international organizations (Hydrogen Council, 2022), the LAC Region will reach 49 MTon/year of Hydrogen production in 2050 and going from an importing region to an exporter of Green Hydrogen.

Hydrogen Trade Balance (imports/exports):

Base Year: 2021
Thousand of dollars (kUSD)

Sources of information:
1) United Nations, Trade Statistics, UN Comtrade Database. https://comtradeplus.un.org
2) World Integrated Trade Solutions (WITS), World Bank. https://wits.worldbank.org
3) International Trade Center (ITC), Trade statistics for international business. https://trademap.org

Countries of LAC

North America

Mexico

Central America

Belize

Costa Rica

El Salvador

Guatemala

Honduras

Nicaragua

Panama

Caribbean

Antigua and Barbuda

Bahamas

Barbados

Cuba

Dominica

Grenada

Haiti

Jamaica

Dominican Republic

Saint Kitts and Nevis

Saint Lucia

Saint Vincent and The Grenadines

Trinidad and Tobago

South America

Argentina

Bolivia

Brazil

Chile

Colombia

Ecuador

Guyana

Paraguay

Peru

Suriname

Uruguay

Venezuela

Photo by delfi de la Rua on Unsplash

National Hydrogen Strategies/Roadmaps

The LAC Region is making significant progress in the development of policies and infrastructure for Hydrogen projects; mainly Green Hydrogen. Chile is the region’s leading country, through several developments such as the publication of the National Green Hydrogen Strategy of 2020, international agreements with European countries, and investment in pilot infrastructure projects. Seven Green Hydrogen Roadmaps or Strategies have been published in the LAC Region, with the aim for the development of this technology and accelerating the energy transition and the decarbonization of sectors, increasing economic growth, and job creation. Currently, the Hydrogen Strategies/Roadmaps of Argentina, Bolivia, Panama, Peru, and Ecuador are being elaborated.