There is a growing consensus that companies are called upon to play a leading role in reversing the effects of climate change. In this spirit, Walmart Chile inaugurated the first green hydrogen plant at an industrial level in Latin America at its Quilicura Distribution Center, a project developed together with ENGIE, a power generation company.
The project, which considered an investment of close to USD 15 million, will allow -in a first stage- to replace the lead-acid batteries of 200 forklift trucks with hydrogen energy cells, avoiding the generation of 250 tons of toxic waste per year.
The inauguration, led by the President and CEO of Walmart Chile, Cristián Barrientos, was attended by former president Michelle Bachelet; the finance ministers, Mario Marcel; and Energy, Diego Pardow; in addition to the Corporate Manager of Corporate Affairs of ENGIE Chile, Pablo Villarino; and Walmart Inc. Chairman and CEO Doug McMillon.
“We are aware that the future of companies must be based on a more efficient use of natural resources. Thus, green hydrogen is a great alternative to advance in the decarbonization of our energy matrix”, assured the President and CEO of Walmart Chile, Cristián Barrientos.
As detailed by the Executive, the inauguration of this green hydrogen production plant is only the first step in the development that the company seeks to achieve in terms of clean energy.
“We see tremendous potential for our business. We want to expand the use of this technology to the rest of the distribution centers of the company's logistics network throughout the country, with the aim of operating 100% with green hydrogen”, explained the leader of Walmart Chile. "We are already exploring new uses in the areas of transportation and emergency services where we already have pilots in operation," he added.
It should be noted that the development of this project is part of the commitment that Walmart acquired globally to become a regenerative company and zero emissions by 2040, being one of the first companies to adopt the innovative technology of hydrogen and its fuel cells.
“Walmart first embraced the potential of hydrogen fuel in 2012, with a fleet of 50 vehicles and forklifts in the United States, which we have grown to more than 9,500 forklifts. Now, with more than a decade of experience and progress, we are well-positioned to invest in Chile's potential as a producer of clean energy, including green hydrogen," said Doug McMillon, Chairman and CEO of Walmart Inc.
Pablo Villarino, Corporate Affairs Manager of ENGIE Chile, explained that: “In our company we believe that this is the path. For this reason, we have created teams 100% dedicated to accelerating large-scale hydrogen projects, considering all levels of their value chain: from the generation of clean energy to the production of renewable hydrogen for industrial uses. Thus, the ENGIE Group has set itself the goal of having an installed capacity of 4 GW in renewable hydrogen by 2030 worldwide”.
The country's energy wealth represents a unique opportunity to develop a competitive green hydrogen industry from electricity produced with low-cost renewable resources, promoting a sustainable economy around it. This is recognized by the National Green Hydrogen Strategy, which has established among its goals for 2030 positioning the country as a leading global exporter of green hydrogen and its derivatives, together with becoming the cheapest producer on the planet.
In this regard, the Minister of Finance, Mario Marcel, pointed out that "there are few countries that are doing things that can show concrete things in the matter. What we are seeing today with the inauguration of this plant is that Chile has the advantage of being able to show concrete advances, advances that we can see, that we can perceive.For this, of course, public policies are necessary to help us continue on this path, the fact that we are taking concrete steps shows that with respect to Green Hydrogen we are coming out of dreams, aspirations, what we read in the popular science media to begin to face reality with concrete facts".
The inauguration of the first green hydrogen plant for industrial use is positioned as an innovative project that reduces the emission of polluting gases and thus makes a real contribution to combating the climate crisis caused by greenhouse gases.
