Commercial banks are showing growing interest in Colombian green hydrogen projects amid renewed momentum in the sector, a senior figure told BNamericas.
Brayaham Villa, president of industry association Hidrógeno Colombia, said the market is entering a new phase as investors steer capital toward practical, large-scale uses.
“I’ve seen the banking sector more involved in the hydrogen segment in recent months,” Villa said on the sidelines of an industry event in Medellín on Thursday.
“They are eager to know more and learn about the environment, because for them the key word is risk. The higher the risk, the higher the interest rate. But sometimes that high risk is only a perception caused by lack of information.”
According to Villa, banks are now engaging more actively with developers as they seek to understand project structures and revenue models. With better information, lenders are reassessing the risks previously associated with the sector.
“They know that the more they understand, the lower the risk they will perceive, and the easier it will be to fund projects,” he said.
“Probably one year from now we will have more funds willing to support these projects, with less skepticism, because they will understand more about the environment, the nature of the projects and project finance. I’m optimistic about banking involvement over the next year.”
As financing interest grows, Villa said the sector is shifting its focus, moving away from early mobility concepts and toward industrial uses that offer clearer demand and stronger business cases.
He said the change reflects fast-moving advances in technology and market thinking, with developers moving on from ideas such as fuel cell electric vehicles toward alternatives such as ammonia and heavy transport that offer greater potential for scale.
“All of this is changing at a very high speed and the conversation we have one year from now will probably be very different,” he added.
(The original version of this content was written in English)
