H2-diplo Colombia present internationally

Colombian delegation at Arcelormittal in Hamburg ©Yasemin Dere

During the month of September 2024, the LAC H2 Summit was held in Cartagena, with the participation of 500 key regional and international stakeholders of the hydrogen ecosystem. It was organized by LAC Clean Hydrogen Action and the Ministry of Mines and Energy with the support of the GIZ programmes H2Uppp (International Market Ramp-Up) and H2-diplo Decarbonization Diplomacy. In addition, also in September, the H2-diplo Colombia programme travelled to Berlin and Hamburg with representatives from the public sector and academia to learn about the progress of PtX technologies in Germany. 

The LAC H2 Summit gathered the main actors of the regional hydrogen ecosystem in Cartagena.

Representatives from different sectors met in Cartagena to enjoy a regional event where they learned about the main trends in the green hydrogen market:

• Panel discussions: Public policies for competitiveness for LAC region; European policies; EU partnerships: Hubs; connecting markets; sourcing and best practices; challenges of large-scale projects and carbon sources for sustainable production.
• Side events: Hydrogen challenges and opportunities in La Guajira: development of Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF); technological value chains; gender and inclusion in the sector; carbon markets; experiences from LAC to accelerate investments and auction mechanisms.
• Business Matchmaking, organized by the AHK with B2B meetings and Trade Fair to offer their services and products.
• During the event, the PPP agreement between the H2Uppp programme and the company Viridi for the financing of pre-feasibility studies was presented.

The event is held every year by the H2Uppp programme funded by the Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK). This year it was also supported by H2-diplo and co-organised by LAC Clean Hydrogen Action and the Colombian Ministry of Mines and Energy.

LAC H2 Summit: Panel Políticas Europas ¿Promesa o realidad? Emilio Nieto (director del Centro Nacional del Hidrógeno), Alberto Menghini (jefe de la Delegación de la Unión Europea en Colombia) Christian Storost (jefe de la División International Hydrogen Ramp-up del BMWK), Alexandre Varela (Director del Banco Europeo de Inversiones en Latioamerica) y Hendrik Meller (Director H2-diplo Diplomacia Descarbonización) ©Yasemin Dere

Study tour to Germany with the public sector and academia

It began in Berlin with an exchange at the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with which the delegation discussed German-Colombian cooperation in the framework of hydrogen strategies, with the participation of the Colombian ambassador to Germany, Yadir Salazar. Afterwards, the participants visited the pioneering Siemens Energy gigafactory, a digitalized and automated plant. The Berlin agenda ended with visits to the EUREF-Campus, DENA and the ‘Leitstelle Wasserstoff’.

In Hamburg, the progress of the implementation of the H2 Hub was presented by the Renewable Energy Cluster, the Ministry of Economic Affairs, ArcelorMittal, Evos, Crush21, Mabanaft, H2Global, Green Planet and the Port Authority. With the latter, a boat tour of the port facilities and the city took place. Highlighting the progress of the projects in Hamburg:

• Mabanaft: Construction of an ammonia import terminal.
• Hamburger Energiewerke and Luxcara decommissioning of the former Moorburg coal-fired power plant to install 100 MW of electrolysis for the local industrial sector.

All these initiatives of the H2-diplo program are made possible by funding from the German Federal Ministry for Foreign Affairs through the International Climate Initiative (IKI).