Transport and logistics firm Maritima Valparasio (MarVal) and chemicals maker Fosfoquim were each awarded $5m under Corfo’s call for proposals for its Industrial Rings to Promote Demand for Green Hydrogen and its Derivatives scheme.

The contributions cover more than 50% of both projects’ costs and must be “executed” within six years.

Chile’s economy, development, tourism, and energy minister Álvaro García, said the projects would allow the country to generate “real demand” for green hydrogen while strengthening the region’s competitiveness.

“Domestic demand for green hydrogen is an essential first step for the development of this industry and thus to take advantage of its great export potential,” he said.

MarVal’s HyLog-Biobío project plans to build a 350-tonne per year hydrogen refuelling station with the University of Concepción to support hydrogen-powered trucking. It will comprise hydrogen storage, compression, and dispensing equipment.

Fosfoquim, along with Occidental Chemical and Eka Chile, plan to install a 1,000-tonne per year green hydrogen plant in Talcahuano to supply chemical industry processes.

“This will replace fossil fuels and enable the production of sustainable reagents with potential for ESG competitiveness, national scalability, and commercial traction in the forestry, chemical, and mining sectors,” Corfo said.

The Industrial Rings scheme was announced in April last year. Chile has since passed a $2.8bn tax credit framework to support domestic uptake, with subsidies capped at $5/kg.

Chile has 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.