Colombia business association labels hydrogen a $20bn ‘investment opportunity’ | Hydrogen News

The National Business Association of Colombia (ANDI) believes the country’s hydrogen sector is an “investment opportunity worth over $20bn,” saying a pipeline of announced projects could attract enormous capital.

At the organisation’s Hydrogen and Renewable Gases Forum, ANDI President Bruce Mac Master advocated for hydrogen’s potential to drive economic growth.

“There are currently 72 announced projects, representing an investment opportunity exceeding $20bn, which could also generate significant production linkages in sectors such as the fertiliser industry, heavy transport, and refineries, among others,” said Mac Master.

Attention to green fertilisers has already spiked, with the country recently advancing a bill aimed at establishing a hydrogen-derived fertiliser industry.

Green hydrogen is also gaining precedent in the country’s refineries, with Ecopetrol’s Cartagena refinery planning to deploy a 5MW electrolyser to replace up to 800 tonnes of grey hydrogen annually.

Heavy transport remains nascent by comparison, though Colombia is already trialling hydrogen in the sector, with a pilot launched in January assessing the molecule’s viability in heavy-duty trucks.

These early projects point to a broader shift from Colombia’s initial focus on hydrogen production and exports towards developing domestic demand. However, the precise basis of the $20bn figure remains unclear.

The International Energy Agency’s (IEA) database of hydrogen projects, last updated in June, shows 37 announced projects, 11 of which are listed as cancelled.

While the country’s long-term potential for green hydrogen production, underpinned by abundant wind and solar resources, is strong, translating a sizable pipeline into bankable projects will determine how quickly production and investment scale.

The government is targeting an annual 120,000 tonnes of low-carbon hydrogen by 2030, and 1.8 million tonnes by 2050.  However, Mac Master himself acknowledged the scale of the challenge.

“Colombia doesn’t lack resources. What we lack is implementation and reaching an agreement on the rules and conditions that will allow us to put those resources to work.”