[Economics] ANH will allocate $170,000 million to search for white hydrogen in Colombia

[NesT_YT]

 

The National Hydrocarbons Agency (ANH) will no longer be just oil and natural gas. He will also be in charge of non-conventional renewable energy issues and, for this reason, he is preparing to begin measuring the potential of white hydrogen in Colombia.

"We are making plans to be able to learn about and explore white hydrogen a bit. Right now our focus is going to be white hydrogen and the idea is to support the Ministry of Mines and Energy in regulation and geological knowledge," said the Technical Vice President. of the ANH, Carlos Rey, during the 2nd International Hydrogen Congress.

In addition, he stated that it is necessary to begin investigations to find out where the potential for white hydrogen is, since Colombia currently does not have a clear estimate of what resources it has.

The Technical Vice President of the ANH also announced that they are working on a project that will be presented to the Ministry of Mines and Energy and the National Planning Department (DNP) to invest 640,000 million pesos in energy transition projects by 2026.

Of this total, approximately 170,000 million pesos will be allocated to identify and evaluate the potential of white hydrogen that could exist in Colombia.

"In the short term we hope to have an estimate of the potential for white hydrogen in Colombia. We will also work on other issues such as geothermal energy and CO2 storage, but without leaving behind all our previous tasks," he added.

Our strategy is focused on the generation of knowledge, which will materialize with the entry of new companies in Colombia for the exploration and exploitation of hydrogen and geothermal resources," said the ANH official.

These ANH plans are in line with the proposal of the Minister of Mines and Energy, Irene Vélez, to replace the hydrocarbon exploration and exploitation industry with that of white hydrogen, which can be found in the same areas where today there are presence of oil.

In addition, he assured that the oil and natural gas infrastructure (oil and gas pipelines) that currently exists in the country and the "hydrocarbon residues" could be optimized for the production of blue hydrogen.

According to the minister, the hydrocarbons sector must migrate little by little and so that it can be done progressively and under principles of energy security.

He also mentioned that blue and white hydrogen are the only colors that the Government is interested in, "grey not so much because we believe that we can bet on as green as possible."

"The energy transition in Colombia needs, in addition to changing technologies and changing the fiscal and export matrix, closing social gaps. The new green economies must be the ones that replace fossil economies," he said.

 

https://www.eltiempo.com/economia/sectores/anh-destinara-170-000-millones-para-buscar-hidrogeno-blanco-761498