Ahead of the nation’s next government taking office on 11 March, the current administration intends to lower production targets, revise projected costs, and prioritise local capabilities.

Energy minister Álvaro García said the administration wanted to “bequeath” the next government with a strategy that “maintains the conviction to take advantage” of green hydrogen, but that was grounded in its “new scenario” where national demand needs more support.

The draft strategy discards the ambitious 25GW of electrolysis by 2030 target, and replaces it with domestic consumption goals of 100,000–200,000 tonnes per year.

It also targets export volumes of between 300,000 and 700,000 tonnes annually by 2035.

By 2050, the national production goal for both domestic and overseas use is set at two to three million tonnes per year.

The government is holding a public consultation on the new strategy until 15 February.

While it marks a major step down from the original 2020 strategy, the incoming government positioned it as a pragmatic reset.

“In this update, the goals are geared toward the expected outcome for the industry”, the updated strategy states. “The strategy’s pillar related to [hydrogen] as an engine of local development is strengthened, focusing efforts on consolidating domestic demand, essential for leveraging exports.”

The current Chilean government previously passed a $2.8bn tax credit framework to support domestic uptake.

Chile had been ramping up its support for hydrogen, betting on its vast renewable resources to position itself among the world’s lowest-cost green hydrogen producers and a prospective exporter to high-consumption markets such as Europe.

For developers and investors, the reset underscores a shift away from scale-at-speed toward demand-backed projects, signalling that near-term opportunities in Chile may hinge more on domestic offtake certainty than export ambition.

Support for green hydrogen looks less certain under the next government. The conservative José Antonio Kast, who won the presidential election with a decisive victory, criticised what he calls ideologically driven environmental policy.

However, he has still acknowledged the economic reality of the energy transition and the role of technology and markets driving change.