The international call from the state oil company for the allocation of areas will be through an open round, similar to that used for oil exploration.
Ancap, the Uruguayan state oil company, has had everything ready for more than a year to carry out an international call – Offshore H2U Round – with the aim of allocating four areas for the installation of wind farms at sea, focused on the production of green hydrogen. or derivatives on a large scale for export.
The company is waiting for the decree of the Executive Branch to be able to carry out this unprecedented step in the world, because it will be the first open round for the production of green hydrogen offshore.
This instance has been widely promoted in different international events and conferences on offshore wind and hydrogen at a global level. One of the last was the World Hydrogen Summit and Exhibition in the Netherlands in May, where Uruguay had a stand to seek to strengthen the country's positioning as a future supplier of fuels derived from green hydrogen.
As El Observador learned, in recent weeks Ancap requested authorities from the Ministry of the Environment to expedite the signing of the decree. This decree will provide the institutional framework and will entrust the state company to make the call.
But it will also include pre-authorization of areas, so that the company that is assigned a block will already have permission to be able to investigate exclusively within the awarded area, which is what was planned in the initial stage.
Open green hydrogen round in Uruguay
The bidding format to award four offshore blocks will be open round, similar to that which exists for hydrocarbon exploration. In this way there will be four dates that will be known in advance, when companies will be able to make offers.
The blocks in the sea will be offered free of charge and there will be demands for compliance with work plans and environmental regulations.
The contract model that will be proposed will include different stages of research and analysis, so that energy companies carry out feasibility studies and can evaluate the potential of the areas.
These evaluation periods may be extended between 2 and 10 years, before a company has to decide whether to move on to a next stage of investment and development to produce in the awarded area. Eventually Ancap could be associated with a project when a development plan is presented.
Oil companies that already have Ancap qualification to participate in the offshore will be able to submit offers in the green hydrogen round without having to qualify again. This is the case, for example, of Shell, which has expressed interest in participating in the round.
The participation of business consortia will also be enabled in the open round.
If more than one offer is submitted for a certain area, the winner will be decided based on an evaluation that will consider economic parameters, as well as those relating to commitments to acquire new data.
The four areas that will be initially offered were defined "considering priority sites for conservation, ecologically relevant elements and to minimize interference with human activities (maritime traffic and operations, fishing, submarine cables) as well as contributions from industry and specialists," according to Ancap.
The blocks have an average surface area of approximately 700km2, and are located more than 42 km from the coast in water depths of between approximately 20 and 50 meters.
The defined areas in the sea have a potential of 3 GW of energy production. And the hydrogen production capacity is equivalent to 200,000 tons per year.
Since the exchange process with companies in the energy sector began, there have been more than 100 meetings with companies and confidentiality agreements for access to the data room were signed with several of them, according to what the state company has managed.
