Hyvolution 2026: Hitachi Energy highlights energy planning for green hydrogen growth in Chile

If the focus of Hyvolution Chile 2025 was laying the foundations for public policy, geopolitics, and attracting global investments, this year, the goal of Latin America's most important international green hydrogen and clean energy congress is moving to action, to project execution, financial viability, and the materialization of technologies on the ground.

Energy minister Ximena Rincón noted that while the country has unbeatable advantages for the sector, the challenge today is to turn tangible initiatives into reality with clear regulations, reasonable permit timelines, and a real impact on local employment and community wellbeing.

The minister detailed that the 2026-2030 Energy Roadmap translated this conviction into verifiable commitments. She highlighted the creation of an interministerial table for strategic energy investment to unblock timelines, the launch of a territorial logistics program for Magallanes, and the incorporation of the first hydrogen-powered bus assembled in Chile into the metropolitan transportation system by 2027.

"None of these announcements will produce a single metric ton of green hydrogen on its own, but together they determine whether that metric ton is produced here," she said.

“The most important aspect right now is that the factors hindering this industry's development have been evaluated extensively and consistently. The current stage involves resolving these barriers to advance execution more dynamically,” says Vivianne Blanlot, president of Hyvolution Chile 2026.

Meanwhile, Electricity and Fuels superintendent Marta Cabeza praised the role each actor is playing in the industry's takeoff. “Everyone involved, from civil society and the public sector to academia, contributes to developing this technology, which serves as a vital input for the country,” she said.

Matching supply with demand

In its fourth edition, Hyvolution Chile 2026 featured 15 main panels spread across the three days of the event, alongside keynotes, technical talks, sectoral agreement signings, and side events like the H2 Grand Prix, which involved students from technical and vocational institutions.

One of the standout panels was "R&D+i on H2 and derivatives: advances in Chile and the world," moderated by Rowena Moreno, a member of Corfo's Green Hydrogen Committee. Alongside experts and academic representatives, the panel included Leticia Frata, Sales Manager for Power Consulting at Hitachi Energy Brazil, the company's consulting unit that conducts feasibility studies and advises sector stakeholders on the electrical connection of their green hydrogen plants.

“Each project has specific characteristics and must therefore be structured from the prefeasibility stage, considering proper equipment sizing and grid integration studies,” says Moreno.

“Initiatives are being pushed forward quickly due to high expectations, but we have focused on having the product without ensuring we have the necessary input,” says Javier Quispe, director of the Department of Chemical Engineering at the Universidad Católica del Norte in Antofagasta. “Several projects have been developed, such as the Antofagasta locomotive, which requires hydrogen compressed at 350 bar, or vehicles requiring 700 bar, while current standard plant production exists at 30 bar.”

Leticia Frata says anticipating challenges related to power stability and quality is essential for selecting the most appropriate solutions, reducing risks, and supporting decisions that balance reliability, CAPEX, opex, and commercial viability. “In Brazil today, we have a project evaluating the origin of CO2, its quality, quantity, cost, and distance; evaluating all of this early on is crucial to guide investment decisions,” adding that this working experience can and likely will be replicated in the Chilean market.

Frata's statements align with the industry's transformation. This development is reflected in the international congress itself, which, starting in 2027, will be named Energyvolution, broadening its technological umbrella into a platform that more widely includes electrification, storage, new fuels, and renewable energies; aligned with Hitachi Energy's solutions for the energy transition, the executive said.